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THE 



RISE AND PROGRESS 

OF 

RELIGIOJV IJV THE SOUL, 

ILLUSTRATED IN A COURSE OF 

SERIOUS AND PRACTICAL ADDRESSES, 

SUITED TO PERSONS 

#f eberg Character antr (fttrcumstauce : 

WITH A 

DEVOUT MEDITATION OR PRAYER, 

Subjoined to each Chapter. 



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BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY KIMBALL AND JOHNSON, 

Pollok Press, No. 8> Franklin Avenue 

1831. 



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Dr. Doddridge was born in London, June, 26, 1702. He was 
of a consumptive habit from infancy, was brought up in the early 
knowledge of religion, and was left an orphan before he arrived 
at the age of 14. At 16, he made a profession of religion j at 20, 
commenced preaching the Gospel ; and at 21, was settled over a 
small congregation, in an obscure village, where he devoted him- 
self to the acquisition of useful knowledge with indefatigable 
zeal. At 27, he was removed to the pastoral care of the church 
in Northampton, where, for 22 years, amidst other diversified 
labors, he acted as an instructer of youth preparing for the min- 
istry, having had under his charge, during that period, upwards 
of 200 young men. At the age of 37 and 38, he published two 
volumes of his Family Expositor ; and about the age of 43, wrote 
" The Rise and Progress of Religion in the .Sow?." At 46, he 
published the third volume of the Family Expositer, and two 
Dissertations. — 1. On Sir Isaac Newton's System of the Harmony. 
2. On the Tnspiraticn of the New Testament. In December, 1750, 
in the 49th year of his age, he went to St. Albans and preached 
the funeral sermon of his early patron and benfactor, Dr. Clark, 
in which journey he contracted a cold, that laid the foundation 
for his death. In July, 1751, he addressed his flock for the last 
time from the pulpit ; and having found all medical aid ineffect- 
ual, embarked, in October, for Lisbon, as the last resort in so 
threatening a disorder, at which place he died on the 26th of 
October, aged 49 years. 

He was not handsome in person ; was very thin and slender, 
in statute somewhat above the middle size, with a stoop in his 
shoulders ; but when engaged in conversation, or employed in 
the pulpit, there was a remarkable sprightliness in his counten- 
ance and manner, which commanded general attention. 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 031624 






CONTENTS. 



Preface, 7 

CHAPTER I. 

The introduction to the work, with some general account 
of its design, 11 

A prayer for the success of it, in promoting the rise and pro- 
gress of religion, 18 

CHAPTER II. 

The careless sinner awakened,- ..... 20 

The meditation of a sinner who was once thoughtless, but 
begins to be awakened, . . . ... 27 

CHAPTER III. 

The awakened sinner urged to immediate consideration, 
and cautioned against delay, 29 

A prayer for one who is tempted to delr.y applying to reli- 
gion, though under some conviction of its importance, 34 

CHAPTER IV. 

The sinner arraigned and convicted, .... 36 

The confession of a sinner, convinced in general of his guilt, 43 

CHAPTER V. 

The sinner stripped of his vain pleas, .... 45 

The meditation of a convinced sinner, giving up his vain 
pleas before God, 52 

CHAPTER VI. 

The sinner sentenced, . . . . . . . 53 

The reflection of a sinner struck with the terror of his sen- 
tence, 59 



IV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

The helpless state of the sinner under condemnation, 
The lamentation of a sinner in this miserable condition, 

CHAPTER VIII. 

News of salvation by Christ brought to the convinced and 

condemned sinner, 66 

The sinner's reflection on this good news, ... 71 

CHAPTER IX. 

A more particular account of the way by which this salva- 
tion is to be obtained, 73 

The sinner deliberating on the expediency of falling in with 
this method of salvation, 79 

CHAPTER X. 

The sinner seriously urged and intreated to accept of salva- 
tion in this way, 81 

The sinner yielding to these intreaties, and declaring his ac- 
ceptance of salvation by Christ, .... 85 

CHAPTER XL 

A solemn address to those who will not be persuaded to fall 

in with the design of the gospel, . . - . . 87 

A prayer in behalf of the impenitent sinner, 97 

CHAPTER XII. 

An address to a soul so overwhelmed with a sense of the 
greatness of its sins, that it dares not apply itself to 
Christ with any hope of salvation, ... 99 

Reflection on the encouragements he has to do it, ending in 
an humble and earnest application to Christ for mercy, 102 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The doubting soul more particularly assisted in its inquiries 
as to the sincerity of its faith and repentance, . 105 

The soul submitting to divine examination the sincerity of 
its repentance and faith, 109 

CHAPTER XIV. 

A more particular view of the several branches of the Christ- 
ian temper ; by which the reader may be further assist- 
ed, in judging what he is, and what he should endeavor 
to be, Ill 

A review of the several branches of this temper in a scrip- 
tural prayer, . 122 



CONTENTS. V 

CHAPTER XV. 

The reader reminded how much he needs the assistance of 
the Spirit of God to form him to this temper, and what 
encouragement he has to expect it, ... 125 

An humble supplication for the influences of divine grace to 
form and strengthen religion in the soul, . . . 1*29 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Christian convert warned of, and animated against, 
those discouragements which he must expect to meet, 
when entering on a religious course, . . . 131 

The soul, alarmed by a sense of these difficulties, commit- 
ting itself to divine protection, .... 135 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The Christian urged to, and assisted in, an express act of 

self-dedication to the service of God, . . . 136 
An example of self-dedication, .... 139 
Together with an abstract of it, to be used with proper and 
requisite alterations, 143 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

On communion in the Lord's supper, .... 145 
A prayer for one who desires to attend, yet has some re- 
maining doubts concerning his right to that solemn or- 
dinance, 149 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Some more particular directions for maintaining continual 
communion with God, or being in his fear all the day 
long ; in a letter to a pious friend, .... 151 

A serious view of death, proper to be taken as we lie down 
on our beds, ........ 163 

CHAPTER XX. 

A serious persuasive to such a method of spending our days, 164 
A prayer suited to the state of a soul who longs to attain 
such a life, 170 

CHAPTER XXL 

A caution against various temptations, by which the young 
convert may be drawn aside from the course before rec- 
ommended, ........ 173 

The young convert's prayer for divine protection from the 
danger of these snares, ...... 180 



71 CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The case of spiritual decay and languor in religion/ 
A prayer for one under spiritual decays, 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

The sad case of a relapse into known and deliberate sin, af- 
ter solemn acts of dedication to God, and some progress 
made in religion, . 190 

A prayer for one who has fallen into gross sin, after religious 
resolutions and engagements, 196 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

The case of the Christian under the hidings of God's face, 200 
An humble supplication for one under the hidings of God's 
face, 208 

CHAPTER XXV. 

The Christian struggling under great and heavy afflictions, 211 
An address to God under the pressure of heavy afflictions, 214 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

The Christian assisted in examining into his growth in grace, 217 
The Christian breathing earnestly after growth in grace, 224 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

The advanced Christian reminded of the mercies of God, 
and exhorted to the exercise of habitual love to him, and 
joy in him, » 226 

An example of the genuine workings of this gratcfai joy in 
God, 231 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The established Christian urged to exert himself for pur- 
poses of usefulness, 234 

The Christian breathing after more extensive usefulness, 242 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Christian rejoicing in the views of death and judgment, 244 
The meditation and prayer of a Christian whose heart is 
warmed with these prospects, 251 

CHAPTER XXX. 

The Christian honoring God by his dying behavior, . 252 
A meditation and prayer suited to the case of a dying Christ- 
ian, 259 



PREFACE. 



The several hints given in the first chapter of this Trea- 
tise, which contains a particular plan of the design, render 
it unnecessary to introduce it with a long preface. My much 
honored friend. Dr. Watts, had laid the scheme, especially 
of the former part. But as those indispositions, with which 
God has been pleased to exercise him, had forbid his hopes 
of being able to add this to his many labors of love to im- 
mortal souls, he was pleased, in a very affectionate and im- 
portunate manner, to urge me to undertake it. And I bless 
God with my whole heart, not only that he hath carried me 
through this delightful task, (for such indeed I have found it), 
but also that he hath spared that worthy and amiable person, 
to see it accomplished, and given him strength and spirit to 
review so considerable a part of it. His approbation, ex- 
pressed in stronger terms than modesty will permit me to re- 
peat,, encourages me to hope that it is executed in such a 
manner as may, by the Divine blessing, render it of some 
general service. And I the rather hope it will be so, as it 
now comes abroad into the world, not only with my own 
prayers and his, but also with those of many other pious 
friends, which I have been particularly careful to engage for 
its success, 



a PREFACE. 

Into whatever hands this work may come, I must desire, 
that, before any pass their judgment upon it, they would please 
to read it through, that they may discern the connexion be- 
tween one part of it and another ; which I the rather request, 
because I have long observed, that Christians of different 
parties have been eagerly laying hold on particular parts of 
the system of Divine truth, and have been contending about 
them, as if each had been all ; or as if the separation of the 
members from each other, and from the head, were the pres- 
ervation of the body, instead of its destruction. They have 
been zealous to espouse the defence, and to maintain the 
honor and usefulness of each apart : whereas the honor, as 
well as the usefulness, seems to me to lie much in their con- 
nection : and suspicions have often arisen betwixt the respec- 
tive defenders of each, which have appeared as unreasonable 
and absurd, as if all the preparations for securing one part 
of a ship in a storm were to be censured as a contrivance to 
sink the rest. I pray God to give to all his ministers and 
people more and more of the spirit of wisdom, and of love, 
and of a sound mind: and to remove far from us those mu- 
tual jealousies and animosities, which hinder our acting with 
that unanimity which is necessary in order to the successful 
carrying on of our common warfare against the enemies of 
Christianity. We may be sure, these enemies will never fail 
to make their own advantage of our multiplied divisions and 
severe contests with each other. But they must necessarily 
lose both their ground and their influence, in proportion to 
the degree in which the energy of Christian principles is felt 
to unite and transform the heart of those by whom they are 



I have studied, in this Treatise, the greatest plainness of 
speech, that the lowest of my readers may, if possible, be 
able to understand every word ; and I hope persons of a 
more elegant taste and refined education will pardon what 
appeared to be so necessary a piece of charity. Such a care 






PREFACE. y 

in practical writings seems one important instance of that 
honoring all men, which our amiable and condescending re- 
ligion teaches us ; and I have been particularly obliged to 
my worthy patron, for what he hath done to shorten some of 
the sentences, and to put my meaning into plainer and more 
familiar words. 

I must add one remark here, which I heartily wish I had 
not omitted in the first edition, viz : That though I do in this 
book consider my reader as successively in a great variety of 
supposed circumstances, beginning with those of a thought- 
less sinner, and leading him through several stages of con- 
viction, terror, &c. as what maybe previous to his sincerely 
accepting the Gospel, and devoting himself to the service of 
God ; yet I would by no means be thought to insinuate, 
that every one ivho is brought to that happy resolution, 
arrives at it through those particular steps, or feels ag- 
itations of mind equalin degree to those I have described. 
Some sense of sin, and some serious and humbling apprehen- 
sion of our danger and misery in consequence of it, must in- 
deed be necessary to dispose us to receive the grace of the 
Gospel, and the Savior who is there exhibited to our faith. 
But God is pleased sometimes to begin the work of his grace 
in the heart almost from the first dawning of reason, and to 
carry it on by such gentle and insensible degrees, that very 
excellent persons, who have made the most eminent attain- 
ments in the Divine life, have been unable to recount any 
remarkable history of their conversion. And so far as I can 
learn, this is most frequently the case with those of them 
w r ho have enjoyed the benefit of a pious education, when it 
has not been succeeded by a vicious and licentious youth. 
God forbid, therefore, that any should be so insensible of 
their own happiness, as to fall into perplexity w r ith relation 
to their spiritual state, for want of beirg able to trace such 
a rise of religion in their minds, as it was necessary on my 
plan for me to describe and exemplify here. I have spoken 



10 PREFACE. 

my sentiments on this head so fully in the eighth of my Ser- 
mons on Regeneration, that I think none who has read, and 
remembers the general contents of it, can be in danger of 
mistaking my meaning here. But as it is very possible this 
book may fall into the hands of many who have not read the 
other, and have no opportunity of consulting it, I thought it 
proper to insert this caution in the preface to this; and I 
am much obliged to that worthy and excellent person who 
kindly reminded me of the expediency of doing it- 

Philip Doddridge. 



RISE AND PROGRESS 

OF 

3keltgton in ti)e <Soul. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE INTRODUCTION TO THE WORK, WITH SOME GEN- 
ERAL ACCOUNT OF ITS DESIGN. 

1. 2. That true religion is very rare, appears from comparing the 
nature of it with the lives and characters of men around us. — 
3. The want of it, matter of just lamentation. — 4. To remedy 
this evil, is the design of the ensuing Treatise. — 5. 6. To 
which, therefore the Author earnestly bespeaks the attention 
of the reader, as his own heart is deeply interested in it. — 7. 
to 12. A general plan of the Work ; of which the first fifteen 
chapters relate chiefly to the Rise of Religion, and the remain- 
ing chapters to its Progress. — Prayer for the success of the 
Work. 

1. When we look around us with an attentive eye, and 
eonsider the characters and pursuits of men, we plainly see, 
that though in the original constitution of their natures, they 
only, of all the creatures that dwell on the face of the earth., 
are capable of religion, yet many of them shamefully neglect 
it. And whatever different notions people may entertain of 
what they call religion, all must agree in owning, that it is 
very far from being a universal thing. 

2. Religion, in its most general view, is such a sense of 
God in the soul, and such a conviction of our obligations to 
him, and of our dependence upon him, as shall engage us to 
make it our great care to conduct ourselves in a manner 
which we have reason to believe will be pleasing to him. 
Now, when we have given this plain account of religion, it 
is by no means necessary that we should search among the 



12 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

savages of distant Pagan nations, to find instances of those 
who are strangers to it. When we view the conduct of the 
generality of people at home, in a Christian and Protestant 
nation, in a nation whose obligations to God have been sin- 
gular, almost beyond those of any other people under heaven, 
will any one presume to say, that religion has a universal 
reign among us 1 Will any one suppose, that it prevails in 
every life ; that it reigns in every heart 1 Alas ! the avowed 
infidelity, the profanation of the name and day of God, the 
drunkenness, the lewdness, the injustice, the falsehood, the 
pride, the prodigality, the base selfishness, and stupid insen- 
sibility about the spirtual and eternal interests of themselves 
and others, which so generally appear among us, loudly pro- 
claim the contrary. So that one would imagine, upon this 
view, that thousands and tens of thousands thought the neg- 
lect, and even the contempt of religion, were a glory, rather 
than a reproach. And where is the neighborhood, where is 
the society, where is the happy family, consisting of any con- 
siderable number, in which, on a more exact examination, 
we find reason to say, " religion fills even this little circle V* 
There is, perhaps, a freedom from any gross and scandalous 
immoralities, an external decency of behavior, an attendance 
on the outward forms of worship in public, and, here and 
there, in the family ; yet, amidst all this, there is nothing 
which looks like the genuine actings of the spiritual and di- 
vine life. There is no appearance of love to God, no rever- 
ence of his presence, no desire of his favor as the highest 
good : there is no cordial belief of the Gospel of salvation ; 
no eager solicitude to escape that condemnation which we 
have incurred by sin ; no hearty concern to secure that eter- 
nal life which Christ has purchased and secured for his people, 
and which he freely promises to all who will receive him. 
Alas ! whatever the love of a friend, or even a parent can do ; 
whatever inclination there may be, to hope all things, and 
believe all things the most favorable, evidence to the contrary 
will force itself upon the mind, and extort the unwilling con- 
clusion, that, whatever else may be amiable in this dear friend 
— in that favorite child — " religion dwells not in his breast." 
3. To a heart that firmly believes the Gospel, and views 
persons and things in the light of eternity, this is one of the 
most mournful considerations in the world. And indeed, to 
such a one, all other calamities and evils of human nature 
appear trifles, when compared with this : the absence of real 
religion, and that contrariety to it, which reigns in so many 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 13 

thousands of mankind. Let this be cured, and all the other 
evils will easily be borne ; nay, good will be extracted out of 
them. But if this continue, it "bringeth forth fruit unto death;" 
(Rom. vii. 5.) and in consequence of it, multitudes, who share 
the entertainments of an indulgent Providence with us, and 
are at least allied to us by the bond of the same common na- 
ture, must, in a few years, be swept away into utter destruc- 
tion, and be plunged, beyond redemption, into everlasting 
burnings. 

4. I doubt not but there are many, under the various forms 
of religious profession, who are- not only lamenting this in 
public, if their office in life calls them to an opportunity of 
doing it; but are likewise mourning before God in secret, 
under a sense of this sad state of things ; and who can appeal 
to Him that searches all hearts, as to the sincerity of their 
desires to revive the languishing cause of vital Christianity 
and substantial piety. And, among the rest, the Author of 
this treatise may with confidence say, it is this Avhich animates 
him to the present attempt, in the midst of so many other 
cares and labors. For this he is willing to lay aside many of 
those curious amusements in science which might suit his own 
private taste, and perhaps open a way for some reputation in 
the learned world. For this he is willing to wave the labor- 
ed ornaments of speech, that he may, if possible, descend to 
the capacity of the lowest part of mankind. For this he 
would endeavor to convince the judgment, and to reach the 
heart of every reader : and, in a word, for this, without any 
dread of the name of an enthusiast, whoever may at random 
throw it out upon occasion, he would, as it were, enter with 
you into your closet, from day to day ; and with all plainness 
and freedom, as well as seriousness, would discourse to you 
of the great things which he has learned from the Christian 
revelation, and on which he assuredly knows your everlasting 
happiness to depend ; that, if you hitherto have lived without 
religion, you may be now awakened to the consideration of it, 
and may be instructed in its nature and importance; or that, 
if you are already, through Divine grace, experimentally ac- 
quainted with it, you may be assisted to make a further pro- 
gress. 

5. But he earnestly entreats this favor of you, that, as it is 
plainly a serious business we are entering upon, you would 
be pleased to give him a serious and an attentive hearing. 
He entreats, that these addresses, and these meditations, may 
be perused at leisure, and be thought over in retirement ; and 



14 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

that you would do him and yourself the justice to believe the 
representations which are here made, and the warnings which 
are here given, to proceed from sincerity and love ; from a 
heart that would not designedly give one moment's unneces- 
sary pain to the meanest creature on the face of the earth, 
and much less to any human mind. If he be importunate, 
it is because he at least imagines that there is just reason 
for it, and fears, lest, amidst the multitudes who are undone 
by the utter neglect of religion, and among those who are 
greatly damaged for want of a more resolute and constant 
attendance to it, this may be the case of some into whose 
hands this treatise may fail. 

6. He is a barbarian, and deserves not to be called a man, 
who can look upon the sorrows of his fellow creatures without 
drawing out his soul unto them, and wishing, at least, that it 
were in the power of his hand to help them. Surely earth 
would be a heaven to that man, who could go about from 
place to place, scattering happiness wheresoever he came, 
though it were only the body that he were capable of reliev- 
ing, and though he could impart nothing better than the hap- 
piness of a mortal life. But the happiness rises in proportion to 
the nature and degree of the good which he imparts. Happy, 
are we ready to say, were those honored servants of Christ, 
who, in the early days of his church, were the benevolent and 
sympathizing instruments of conveying miraculous healing to 
those whose cases seemed desperate ; who poured in upon the 
blind and the deaf the pleasures of light and sound, and called 
up the dead to the powers of action and enjoyment. But this 
is an honor and happiness which it is not fit for God com- 
monly to bestow on mortal men. Yet there have been, in 
every age, and, blessed be his name, there still are those 
whom he has condescended to make his instruments in con- 
veying nobler aud more lasting blessings than these to their 
fellow creatures. Death has long since veiled the eyes, and 
stopped the ears, of those who were the subjects of miracu- 
lous healing, and recovered its empire over those who were 
once recalled from the grave. But the souls who are pre- 
vailed upon to receive the Gospel, live forever. God has 
owned the labors of his faithful ministers in every age to pro- 
duce these blessed effects ; and some of them " being dead, 
yet speak," (Heb. xi. 4.) with power and success, in this 
important cause. Wonder not then, if, living and dying, I 
be ambitious of this honor ; and if my mouth be freely opened, 
where lean truly say, " my heart is enlarged." 2Cor.vi. 11 * 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 15 

7. In forming my general plan, I have been solicitous that 
this little treatise might, if possible, be useful to all its readers,, 
and contain something suitable to each. I will therefore take 
the man and the Christian, in a great variety of circumstan- 
ces. I will first suppose myself addressing one of the vast 
number of thoughtless creatures, who have hitherto been ut- 
terly unconcerned about religion, and will try what can be 
done, by all plainness and earnestness of address, to awaken 
him from this fatal lethargy, to a care, (chap. 2.) an affec- 
tionate and an immediate care about it. (chap. 3.) I will 
labor to fix a deep and awful conviction of guilt upon his 
conscience, (chap. 4.) and to strip him of his vain excuse.s; 
and his flattering hopes, (chap. 5.) I will read to him, O ! 
that I could fix on his heart, that sentence, that dreadful sen- 
tence, which a righteous and an Almighty God hath denounc- 
ed against him as a sinner ; (chap. 6.) and endeavor to show 
him, in how helpless a state he lies under this condemnation, 
as to any capacity he has of delivering himself, (chap. 7.) 
But I do not mean to leave any in so terrible a situation : I 
will joyfully proclaim the glad tidings of pardon and salvation 
by Christ Jesus our Lord, which is all the support and con- 
fidence of my own soul. (chap. 8.) And then I will give 
some general view of the way by which this salvation is to be 
obtained ; (chap. 9.) urging the sinner to accept of it as af- 
fectionately as lean : (chap. 10.) though nothing can be suf- 
ficiently pathetic, where, as in this matter, the life of an 
immortal soul is in question. 

8. Too probable it is, that some will, after all this, remain 
insensible ; and therefore, that their sad case may not en- 
cumber the following articles; I shall here take a solemn 
leave of them ; (chap. 11.) and then shall turn and address 
myself, as compassionately as I can, to a most contrary char- 
acter : I mean, to a soul overwhelmned with a sense of the 
greatness of its sins, and trembling under the burden, as if 
there were no more hope for him in God. (chap. 12,) And 
that nothing may be omitted which may give solid peace to 
the troubled spirit, 1 shall endeavor to guide its inquiries as 
to the evidences of sincere repentance and faith ; (chap. 13.) 
which will be further illustrated by a more particular view of 
the several branches of the Christian temper, such as may 
serve at once to assist the reader in judging what he is, and 
to show him what he should labor to be. (chap. 14.) This 
will naturally lead to a view of the need we have of the in- 
fluences of the blessed Spirit, to assist us in the important 



16 RISE A>'D PROGRESS OF 






and difficult work of the true Christian, and of the encour- 
agement we have to hope for such Divine assistance, (chap. 
15.) In an humble dependence on which, I shall then enter 
on the consideration of several cases which often occur in the 
Christian life, in which particular addresses to the conscience 
may be requisite and useful. 

9. As some peculiar difficulties and discouragements attend 
the first entrance on a religious course, it will here be our first 
care to animate the young convert against them. (chap. 16.) 
And that it may be done more effectually, I shall urge a sol- 
emn dedication of himself to God; (chap. 17.) to be con- 
firmed by entering into the communion of the church, and an 
approach to the sacred table, (chap. 18.) That these en- 
gagements may be more happily fulfilled, we shall endeavor 
to draw a more particular plan of that devout, regular and 
accurate course, which ought daily to be attended to. (chap. 
19.) And because the idea will probably rise so much higher 
than what is the general practice, even of good men, we shall 
endeavor to persuade the reader to make the attempt, hard 
as it may seem, (chap. 20.) aud shall caution him against 
various temptations, which might otherwise draw him aside 
to negligence and sin. (chap. 21.) 

10. Happy will it be for the reader, if these exhortations 
and cautions be attended to with becoming regard ; but as it 
is, alas ! too probable, that, notwithstanding all, the infirm- 
ities of nature will sometimes prevail, we shall consider the 
case of deadness and languor in religion, which often steals 
upon us by insensible degrees ; (chap. 22.) from whence there 
is too easy a passage to that terrible one of a return into 
known and deliberate sin. (chap. 23.) And as the one 
or the other of these tends, in a proportionable degree, to 
provoke the blessed God to hide his face, and his injured 
Spirit to withdraw, that melancholy condition will be taken 
into particular survey, (chap. 24.) I shall then take notice 
also of the case of great and heavy afflictions in life, (chap. 
25.) a discipline which the best of men have reason to ex- 
pect, especially when they backslide from God, and yield to 
their spiritual enemies. 

11. Instances of this kind will, I fear, be too frequent; 
yet, I trust, there will be many others, whose path, like the 
dawning light, will " shine more and more unto the perfect 
day." Prov. iv. 18. And therefore we shall endeavor, in the 
best manner we can, to assist the Christian in passing a true 
judgment on the growth of grace in his heart, (chap. 26.) 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 17 

as we have done before in judging of its sincerity. And as 
nothing conduces more to the advancement of grace, than the 
lively exercise of love to God, and a holy joy in him, we shall 
here remind the real Christian of those mercies which tend 
to excite that love and joy ; (chap. 27.) and in the view of 
them, to animate him to those vigorous efforts of usefulness 
in life, which so well become his character, and will have so 
happy an efficacy in brightening his crown, (chap. 28.) Sup- 
posing him to act accordingly, we shall then labor to illustrate 
and assist the delight with which he may look forward to the 
awful solemnities of death and judgment, (chap. 29.) And 
shall close the scene by accompanying him, as it were, to the 
nearest confines of that dark valley, through which he is to 
pass to glory ; giving him such directions as may seem most 
subservient to his honoring God, and adorning religion, by 
his dying behavior, (chap. 30.) Nor am I without a pleas- 
ing hope, that, through the Divine blessing and grace, I may 
be, in some instances, so successful as to leave those triumph- 
ing in the views of judgment and eternity, and glorifying God 
by a truly Christian life and death, whom I found trembling 
in the apprehensions of future misery ; or, perhaps, in a much 
more dangerous and miserable condition than that : I mean 
entirely forgetting the prospect, and sunk in the most stupid 
insensibility of those things, for an attendance to which the 
human mind was formed, and in comparison of which all the 
pursuits of this transitory life are emptier than wind, and 
lighter than a feather. 

12. Such a variety of heads must, to be sure, be handled 
but briefly, as we intend to bring them within the bulk of a 
moderate volume. I shall not, therefore, discuss them as a 
preacher might properly do in sermons, in which the truths 
of religion are professedly to be explained and taught, defend- 
ed and improved, in a wide variety, and a long detail of prop- 
ositions, arguments, objections, replies, and inferences, mar- 
shalled and numbered under their distinct generals. I shall 
here speak in a looser and freer manner, as a friend to a 
friend ; just as I would do if I were to be in person admitted 
to a private audience, by one whom I tenderly loved, and 
whose circumstances and character I knew to be like that 
which the title of one chapter or another of this treatise de- 
scribes. And when I have discoursed with him a little while, 
which will seldom be so long as half an hour, shall, as it were, 
step aside, and leave him to meditate on what he has heard, 
or endeavor to assist him in such fervent addresses to God, 



18 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

as it may be proper to mingle with those meditations. In the 
mean time, I will here take the liberty to pray over my read- 
er and my work, and to commend it solemnly to the Divine 
blessing, in token of my deep conviction of an entire depend- 
ence upon it. And I am well persuaded, that sentiments 
like these are common, in the general, to every faithful min- 
ister, to every real Christian. 

A Prayer for the Success of this Work, in promoting 
the Rise and Progress of Religion. 

" O thou great eternal Original, and Author of all created 
being and happiness ! I adore thee, who hast made man a 
creature capable of religion, and hast bestowed this dignity 
and felicity upon our nature, that it may be taught to say, 
Where is God our maker 1 Job, xxxv. 10. I lament that 
degeneracy spread over the whole human race, which has 
ct turned our glory into shame," (Hos. iv. 7.) and has ren- 
dered the forgetfulness of God, unnatural as it is, so common, 
and so universal a disease. Holy Father, we know it is thy 
presence, and thy teaching alone, that can reclaim thy wan- 
dering children, can impress a sense of Divine things on the 
heart, and render that sense lasting and effectual. From thee 
proceed all good purposes and desires; and this desire, above 
all, of diffusing wisdom, piety, and happiness in this world, 
which (though sunk in such deep apostacy) thine infinite mer- 
cy has not utterly forsaken. 

" Thou * knowest, O Lord, the hearts of the children of 
men ;' (2 Chron. vi. 30.) and an upright soul, in the midst 
of all the censures and suspicions it may meet with, rejoices 
in thine intimate knowledge of its most secret sentiments and 
principles of action. Thou knowest the sincerity aud ferven- 
cy with which thine unworthy servant desires to spread the 
knowledge of thy name, and the savor of thy Gospel, among 
all to whom this work may reach. Thou knowest that, hadst 
thou given him an abundance of this world, it would have been 
in his esteem, the noblest pleasure that abundance could have 
afforded, to have been thine almoner, in distributing thy boun- 
ties to the indigent and necessitous, and so causing the sor- 
rowful heart to rejoice in thy goodness, dispensed through his 
hands. Thou knowest, that, hadst thou given him, either by 
ordinary or extraordinary methods, the gift of healing, it 
would have been his daily delight, to relieve the pains, the 
maladies, and the infirmities of men's bodies ; to have seen 
the languishing countenance brightened by returning health 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 19 

and cheerfulness ; and much more to have beheld the roving, 
distracted mind reduced to calmness and serenity, in the ex- 
ercise of its rational faculties. Yet happier, far happier will 
he think himself, in those humble circumstances in which thy 
providence hath placed him, if thou vouchsafe to honor these 
his feeble endeavors, as the means of relieving and enriching 
men's minds ; of recovering them from the madness of a sin- 
ful state, and bringing back thy reasonable creatures to the 
knowledge, the service, and the enjoyment of their God ; or 
of improving those who are already reduced. 

" O may it have that blessed influence on the person, who- 
soever he be, that is now reading these lines, and all who may 
read or hear them ! Let not my Lord be angry, if I presume 
to ask, that, however weak and contemptible this work may 
seem in the eyes of the children of this world, and however 
imperfect it really be, as well as the author of it unworthy, 
it may nevertheless live before thee ; and, through a Divine 
power, be mighty to produce the rise and progress of relig- 
ion in the minds of multitudes in distant places, and in gen- 
erations yet to come ! Impute it not, O God, as a culpable 
ambition, if I desire, that, whatever becomes of my name, 
about which I would not lose one thought before thee, this 
work, to which I am now applying myself in thy strength, 
may be completed and propagated far abroad : that it may 
reach to those that are yet unborn, and teach them thy name 
and thy praise, when the author has long dwelt in the dust : 
that so, when he shall appear before thee in the great day of 
final account, his joy may be increased, and his crown bright- 
ened, by numbers before unknown to each other, and to him * 
But if this petition be too great to be granted to one who pre- 
tends no claim but thy sovereign grace, to hope for being fa- 
vored with the least, give him to be, in thine Almighty hand, 
the blessed instrument of converting and saving one soul ; and 
if it be but one, and that the weakest and meanest of those 
who are capable of receiving this address, it shall be most 
thankfully accepted as a rich recompense for all the thought 
and labor it may cost; and though it should be amidst a 
thousand disappointments w r ith respect to others, yet it shall 
be the subject of immortal songs of praise to thee, O blessed 
God, for and by every soul, whom, through the blood of Jesus 
and the grace of thy Spirit, thou hast saved ; and everlasting 
honors shall be ascribed to the Father, and to the Son, and 
to the Holy Spirit, by the innumerable company of angels, 
and by the general assembly and church of the first-born in 
heaven. Amen." 



20 EISE AND PROGRESS OF 



CHAPTER II. 

THE CARELESS SINNER AWAKENED. 

1. 2. It is too supposable a case that this Treatise may come into 
such hands. — 3. 4. Since many, not grossly vicious, fall un- 
der that character. — 5. 6. A more particular illustration of this 
case, with an appeal to the reader, whether it be not his own. 
—7 to 9. Expostulation with such.— 10 to 12. More particularly 
—From acknowledged principles relating to the Nature of God, 
his universal presence, agency, and perfections. — 13. From 
a view of personal obligations to him. — 14. Erom a danger of 
this neglect, when considered in its aspect on a future state. — 
15. An appeal to the conscience as already convinced. — 16. 
Transition to the subject of the next chapter. — The medita- 
tion of a sinner, who, having been long thoughtless, begins to 
be awakened. 

1. Shamefully and fatally as religion is neglected in 
the world, yet, blessed be God, it has some sincere disciples, 
children of wisdom, by whom even in this foolish and degen- 
erate age, it "is justified:" (Matt. ix. 18.) who having, 
by divine grace, been brought to the knowledge of God in 
Christ, have faithfully devoted their hearts to him, and, by 
a natural consequence, are devoting their lives to his ser- 
vice. Could I be sure this Treatise would fall into no hands 
but theirs, my work would be shorter, easier, and more pleas- 
ant. 

2. But among the thousands that neglect religion, it is 
more than probable that some of my readers may be included; 
and I am so deeply affected with their unhappy case, that the 
temper of my heart, as well as the proper method of my 
subject, leads me, in the first place, to address myself to such : 
to apply to every one of them ; and therefore to you, O reader, 
whoever you are, who may come under the denomination of 
a careless sinner. 

3. Be not, I beseech you, angry at the name. The phy- 
sicians of souls must speak plainly, or they may murder those 
whom they should cure. I would make no harsh and unrea- 
sonable supposition. I would charge you with nothing more 
than is absolutely necessary to convince you that you are the 
person to whom I speak. I will not, therefore, imagine you 
to be a profane and abandoned profligate. I will not suppose, 
that you allow yourself to blaspheme God, to dishonor his 
name by customary swearing, or grossly to violate his Sab* 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 21 

bath, or commonly to neglect the solemnities of his public 
worship : I will not imagine that you have injured your neigh- 
bors, in their lives, their chastity, or their possessions, either 
by violence or by fraud; or that you have scandalously de- 
based the rational nature of man, by that vile intemperance 
which transforms us into the worst kind of brutes, or some- 
thing beneath them. 

4. In opposition to all this, I will suppose that you believe 
the existence and providence of God, and the truth of Christ- 
ianity as a revelation from him : of which, if you have any 
doubt, I must desire that you would immediately seek your 
satisfaction elsewhere.* I say, immediately ; because not to 
believe it, is in effect to disbelieve it; and will make your 
ruin equally certain, though perhaps it may leave it less ag- 
gravated, than if contempt and opposition had been added to 
suspicion and neglect. But supposing you to be a nominal 
Christian, and not a deist or a sceptic, I will also suppose 
your conduct among men to be not only blameless, but ami- 
able ; and that they who know you most intimately, must ac- 
knowledge that you are just and sober, humane and courteous, 
compassionate and liberal; yet with all this, you may (i lack 
that one thing" (Mark, x. 21.) on which your eternal hap- 
piness depends. 

5. I beseech you, reader, whoever you are, that you would 
now look seriously into your heart, and ask it this one plain 
question : Am I truly religious 1 Is the love of God the gov- 
erning principle of my life 1 Do I walk under the sense of 
his presence 1 Do I converse with him from day to day, in 
the exercise of prayer and praise 1 And am I, on the whole, 
making his service my business and my delight, regarding 
him as my master and my father 1 

6. It is my present business only to address myself to the per- 
son whose conscience answers in the negative. And I would 
address, with equal plainness and equal freedom, to high and 
low, to rich and poor : to you, who, as the Scripture with a 
dreadful propriety expresses it, " live without God in the 
world !" (Eph. ii. 12.) and while in words and forms you 
" own God, deny him in your actions." (Tit. i. 16.) and 
behave yourselves in the main, a few external ceremonies 

*In such a case, I beg leave to refer the reader to my three 
sermons on the evidence of Christianity, and the last of the ten 
on the Power and Grace of Christ ; in which he may see the 
hitherto unshaken foundations of my own faith, in a short, and 
I hope a clear view. 



22 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

only excepted, just as you would do if you believed and were 
sure there is no God. Unhappy creature, whoever you are ! 
your own heart condemns you immediately ! and how much 
more that " God who is greater than your heart, and know- 
eth all things." 1 John, iii. 20. He is in " secret," (Matt, 
vi. 6.) as well as in public; and words cannot express the 
delight with which his children converse with him alone : 
but in secret you acknowledge him not : you neither pray to 
him, nor praise him, in your retirements. Accounts, cor- 
respondences, studies, may often bring you into your closet; 
but if nothing but devotion were to be transacted there, it 
would be to you quite an unfrequented place. And thus you 
go on from day to day, in a continual forgetfulness of God 
and are as thoughtless about religion as if you had long since 
demonstrated to yourself that it was a mere dream. If, in- 
deed, you are sick, you will perhaps cry to God for health : 
in any extreme danger, you will lift up your eyes and voice 
for deliverance : but as for the pardon of sin, and the other 
blessings of the Gospel, you are not at all inwardly solicitous 
about them ; though you profess to believe that the Gospel 
is Divine, and the blessings of it eternal. All your thoughts, 
and all your hours, are divided between the business and the 
amusements of life ; and if now and then an awful provi- 
dence, or a serious sermon or book, awakens you, it is but 
a few days, or it may be a few hours, and you are the same 
careless creature you ever were before. On the whole, you 
act as if you were resolved to put it to the venture, and at 
your own expense to make the experiment, whether the con- 
sequences of neglecting religion be indeed as terrible as its 
ministers and friends have represented. Their remonstran- 
ces do indeed sometimes force themselves upon you, as, (con- 
sidering the age and country in which you live,) it is hardly 
possible entirely to avoid them ; but you have, it may be, 
found out the art of Isaiah's people, " hearing to hear, and not 
understand ; and seeing to see, and not perceive : your heart 
is waxed gross, your eyes are closed, and your ears heavy." 
Isa. vi. 9, 10. Under the very ordinances of worship your 
thoughts " are at the ends of the earth." Prov. xvii. 24. 
Every amusement of the imagination is welcome, if it may 
but lead away your mind from so insipid and so disagreeable 
a subject as religion. And probably the very last time you 
were in a worshipping assembly, you managed just as you 
would have done if you had thought God knew nothing of your 
behavior or as if you did not think it worth one single care 
whether he were pleased or displeased with it. 






RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 23 

7. Alas ! is it then come to this, with all your belief of 
God, and providence, and Scripture, that religion is not worth 
a thought 1 That it is not worth one hour's serious consid- 
eration and reflection, " What God and Christ are, and 
what you yourselves are, and what you must hereafter be!" 
Where then are all your rational faculties 1 How are they 
employed, or rather how are they stupified and benumbed 1 

8. The certainty and importance of the things of which I 
speak, are so evident, from the principles which you your- 
selves grant, that one might almost set a child or an idiot to 
reason upon them. And yet they are neglected by those who 
are grown up to understanding, and perhaps some of them 
to such refinement of understanding, that they would think 
themselves greatly injured if they were not to be reckoned 
among the politer and more learned part of mankind. 

9. But it is not your neglect, Sirs, that can destroy the 
being or importance of such things as these. It may indeed 
destroy you, but it cannot in the least affect them. Permit 
me, therefore, having been myself awakened, to come to each 
of you, and say, as the mariners did to Jonah while asleep 
in the midst of a much less dangerous storm, " What mean- 
est thou, O sleeper 1 Arise and call upon thy God." Jonah, 
i. 6. Do you doubt as to the reasonableness or neccessity of 
doing it 1 "I will demand, and answer me;" (Job, xxxviii. 
3.) answer me to your own conscience, as one that must, ere 
long, render another kind of account. 

10. You own that there is a God ; and well you may, for 
you cannot open your eyes but you must see the evident proofs 
of his being, his presence, and his agency. You behold him 
around you in every object. You feel him within you, if I 
may so speak, in every vein, and in every nerve. You see, 
and you feel, not only that he hath formed you with an ex- 
quisite wisdom, which no mortal man could ever fully explain 
or comprehend, but that he is continually near you, wherever 
you are', and however you are employed, by day or by night ; 
"in him you live, and move, and have your being." Acts, 
xvii. 28. Common sense will tell you, that it is not your 
own wisdom, and power, and attention, that causes your heart 
to beat, and your blood to circulate ; that draws in and sends 
out that breath of life, that precarious breath of a most un- 
certain life, "that is in your nostrils." Isa. ii. 22. These 
tilings are done when you sleep, as well as in those waking 
moments when you think not of the circulation of the blood, 
or of the necessity of breathing, or so much as recollect that 



24 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 






you have a heart or lungs. Now what is this, but the hand 
of God, perpetually supporting and actuating those curious 
machines that he has made 1 

11. Nor is this care limited to you; but if you look all 
around you, far as your view can reach, you see it extending 
itself on every side : and, oh ! how much further than you 
can trace it ! Reflect on the light and heat which the sim 
every where dispenses ! on the air which surrounds all our 
globe; on the right temperature on which the life of the 
whole human race depends, and that of all the inferior crea- 
tures which dwell on the earth. Think of the suitable and 
plentiful provisions made for man and beast ; the grass, the 
grain, the variety of fruits, and herbs, and flowers ; every 
thing that nourishes us, every thing that delights us ; and say, 
whether it does not speak plainly and loudly, that our Al- 
mighty Maker is near, and that he is careful of us, and kind 
to us. And while all these things proclaim his goodness, do 
not they also proclaim his power ! For what power has any 
thing comparable to that, which furnishes out those gifts of 
royal bounty; and which, unwearied and unchanged, pro- 
duces continually, from day to day, and from age to age, such 
astonishing and magnificient effects over the face of the 
whole earth, and through all the regions of heaven ! 

12. It is then evident that God is present, present with you 
at this moment ; even God your Creator and Preserver, God 
the Creator and Preserver of the whole visible and invisible 
world. And is he not present as a most observant and at- 
tentive being % " He that formed the eye, shall not he see 7 . 
He that planted the ear, shall not he hear 1 He that teaches 
man knowledge," that gives him his rational faculties, and 
pours in upon his opening mind all the light it receives by 
them, "shall not he know! 55 Psal. xciv. 9, 10. He who 
sees all the necessities of his creatures so seasonably to pro- 
vide for them, shall he not see their actions too ; and seeing 
shall he not judge them 1 Has he given us a sense and dis- 
crimination of what is good and evil, of what is true and false, 
of what is fair and deformed in temper and conduct; and has 
he himself no discernment of these things 1 Trifle not with 
your conscience, which tells you at once that he judges it, 
and approves or condemns, as it is decent or indecent, rea- 
sonable or unreasonable; and that the judgment which he 
passes is of infinite importance to all his creatures. 

13. And now to apply all this to your own case, let me 
seriously ask you, is it a decent and reasonable thing, that 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 25 

this great and glorious Benefactor should be neglected by his 
rational creatures 1 by those that are capable of attaining to 
some knowledge of him, and presenting to him some homage 1 
Is it decent and reasonable, that he should be forgotten and 
neglected by you % Are you alone, of all the works of his 
hands, forgotten or neglected by him % O sinner, thoughtless 
as you are, you cannot dare to say that, or even to think it. 
You need not go back to the helpless days of your infancy 
and childhood to convince you of the contrary. You need 
not, in order to this, recollect the remarkable deliverances, 
which, perhaps, w T ere wrought out for you many years ago. 
The repose of the last night, the refreshment and comfort you 
have received this day; yea, the mercies you are receiving 
this very moment, bear witness to him ; and yet you regard 
him not. Ungrateful creature that you are ! Could you have 
treated any human benefactor thus 1 Could you have borne 
to neglect a kind parent, or any generous friend, that had but 
for a few months acted the part of a parent to you 1 to have 
taken no notice of him while in his presence; to have re- 
turned him no thanks; to have had no contrivances to make 
some little acknowledgment for all his goodness % Human 
nature, bad as it is, is not fallen so low. Nay, the brutal 
nature is not so low as this. Surely every domestic animal 
around you must shame such ingratitude. If you do but for 
a few days take a little kind notice of a dog, and feed him 
with the refuse of your table, he will wait upon you, and love 
to be near you ; he will be eager to follow you from place to 
place, and when, after a little absence, you return home, 
will try, by a thousand fond, transported motions, to tell you 
how much he rejoices to see you again. Nay, brutes far less 
sagacious and apprehensive, have some sense of our kindness, 
and express it after their way : as the blessed God conde- 
scends to observe, in this very view in which I mention it, 
" The 5 ' dull " ox knows his owner, and the" stupid " ass 
his master's crib." Isa. i. 3. What lamentable degeneracy 
therefore is it, that you do not know : that you, who have 
been numbered among God's professed people, do not, and 
will not consider your numberless obligations to him. 

14. Surely, if you have any ingenuousness of temper, you 
must be ashamed and grieved in the review ; but if you have 
not, give me leave further to expostulate with you on this head, 
by setting it in something of a different light. Can you think 
yourself safe, while you are acting a part like this 1 Do you 
not in your conscience believe there will be a future judg- 

3 



26 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

raenl 1 Do you not believe there is an invisible and eternal 
world 1 As professed Christians, we all believe it; for it is 
no controverted point, but displayed in Scripture with so clear 
an evidence, that, subtle and ingenious as men are in error, 
they have not yet found out a way to evade it. And believ- 
ing tlu's, do you not see, that, while you are thus wandering 
from God, " destruction and misery are in your way *?" Rom. 
iii. 16. Will this indolence and negligence of temper be any 
security to you 1 Will it guard you from death 1 Will it 
excuse you from judgment 1 You might much more reason- 
ably expect, that shutting your eyes would be a defence 
against the rage of a devouring lion; or that looking another 
way should secure your body from being pierced by a bullet 
or' a sw T ord. When God speaks of the extravagant folly of 
some thoughtless creatures who would hearken to no admo- 
nition now, he adds, in a very awful manner, " In the latter 
day they shall consider it perfectly." Jer. xxiii. 20. And is 
not this applicable to you 1 Must you not sooner or later, be 
brought to think of these things, whether you will or notl 
And, in the mean time, do you not certainly know, that timely 
and serious reflection upon them is, through divine grace, the 
only way to prevent your ruin 1 

15. Yes, sinner, I need not multiply words on a subject 
like this. Your conscience is already inwardly convinced, 
though your pride may be unwilling to own it. And to prove 
it, let me ask you one question more : Would you, upon any 
terms and considerations whatever, come to a resolution ab- 
solutely to dismiss all further thought of religion, and all care 
about it, from this day and hour, and to abide the conse- 
quences of that neglect 1 I believe hardly any man living 
would be bold enough to determine upon this. I believe 
most of my readers would be ready to tremble at the thought 
of it. 

16. But if it be necessary to take these things into consid- 
eration at all, it is necessary to do it quickly; for life itself 
is not so very long, nor so certain, that a wise man should 
risk much upon its continuance. 

And I hope to convince you, when I have another hearing, 
that it is necessary to do it immediately, and that, next to the 
madness of resolving you will not think of religion at all, is 
that of saying you will think of it hereafter. In the mean 
time, pause on the hints which have been already given, and 
they will prepare you to receive what is to be added on that 
bead. 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 27 

The Meditation of a Sinner, who was once thought- 
less, but begins to be awakened. 

" Awake, O my forgetful soul, awake from these wander- 
ing dreams. Turn thee from this chase of vanity, and for a 
little while be persuaded by all these considerations, to look 
forward, and to look upward, at least for a few moments. 
Sufficient are the hours and days given to the labors and 
amusements of life. Grudge not a short allotment of min- 
utes, to view thyself and thine own more immediate con- 
cerns : to reflect who and what thou art, how it comes to pass 
that thou art here, and what thou must quickly be ! 

" It is indeed as thou hast seen it now represented. O 
my soul ! thou art the creature of God, formed and furnished 
by him, and lodged in a body which he provided, and which 
he supports; a body in which he intends thee only a transi- 
tory abode. Oh ! think how soon this i tabernacle' must be 
■ dissolved,' (2 Cor. v. 1.) and thou must return to God.' 
Eccles. xii. 7. And shall He, the One, Infinite, Eternal, 
Ever-blessed, and Ever-glorious Being, shall He be least of 
all regarded by thee 1 Wilt thou live and die with this char- 
acter, saying, by every action of every day, unto God, ( De- 
part from me, for I desire not the knowledge of thy ways V 
Job, xxi. 14. The morning, the day, the evening, the night, 
every period of time, has its excuses for this neglect. But 
oh ! my soul, what will these excuses appear, when examined 
by his penetrating eye ! They may delude me, but they can- 
not impose upon him. 

" O thou injured, neglected, provoked Benefactor ! When 
I think, but for a moment or two, of all thy greatness and of 
all thy goodness, I am astonished at this insensibility, which 
has prevailed in my heart, and even still prevails ; I ( blush 
and am confounded to lift up my face before thee.' Ezra, ix. 
6. On the most transient review, I ' see that I have played 
the fool,' that ' I have erred exceedingly.' 1 Sam. xxvi. 21. 
And yet this stupid heart of mine would make its having 
neglected thee so long, a reason for going on to neglect thee. 
I own it might justly be expected, that, with regard to thee, 
every one of thy rational creatures should be all duty and 
love ; that each heart should be full of a sense of thy presence ; 
and that a care to please thee should swallow up every other 
care. Yet thou ' hast not been in all my thoughts ;' (Psal. 
x. 4.) and religion, the end and glory of my nature, has been 
so strangely overlooked, that I have hardly ever seriously ask- 



28 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

ed my own heart what it is. — I know, if matters rest here, 
I perish ; yet I feel, in my perverse nature, a secret indispo- 
sition to pursue these thoughts : a proneness, if not entirely 
to dismiss them, yet to lay them aside for the present. My 
mind is perplexed and divided ; but I am sure, thou, who 
madest me, knowest what is best for me. I therefore be- 
seech thee that thou wilt, i for thy Name's sake, lead me and 
guide me.' Psal. xxxi. 3. Let me not delay till it is forever 
too late. ( Pluck me as a brand out of the burning.' Amos, 
iv. 11. O break this fatal enchantment that holds down my 
affection to objects which my judgment comparatively des- 
pises ! and let me, at length, come into so happy a state of 
mind, that I may not be afraid to think of thee, and of my- 
self, and may not be tempted to wish that thou hadst not 
made me, or that thou couldst forever forget me ; that it may 
not be my best hope, to perish like the brutes. 

" If what I shall further read here be agreeable to truth 
and reason, if it be calculated to promote my happiness, and 
is to be regarded as an intimation of thy will and pleasure 
to me, O God, let me hear and obey ! Let the words of thy 
servant, when pleading thy cause, be like goads to pierce into 
my mind ! and let me rather feel, and smart, than die ! Let 
them be ' as nails fastened in a sure place ;' (Eccl. xii. A/) 
that, whatever mysteries as yet unknown, or whatever diffi- 
culties there be in religion, if it be necessary, I may not 
finally neglect it ; and that, if it be expedient to attend im- 
mediately to it, I may no longer delay that attendance ! 
And, oh ! let thy grace teach me the lesson I am so slow to 
learn, and conquer that strong opposition which I feel in my 
heart against the very thought of it ! Hear these broken 
cries, for the sake of thy Son, who has taught and saved 
many a creature as untractable as I, and can ' out of stones, 
raise up children unto Abraham !' " Matt. iii. 9. Amen. 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 29 



CHAPTER III. 

THE AWAKENED SINNER URGED TO IMMEDIATE CON- 
SIDERATION, AND CAUTIONED AGAINST DELAY. 

1. Sinners, when awakened, inclined to dismiss convictions for 
the present. — 2. An immediate regard to religion urged. — 3. 
From the excellence and pleasure of the thing itself. — 4. From 
the uncertainty of that future time on which sinners presume, 
compared with the sad consepuences of being cut off in sin. — 
5. From the immutability of God's present demands. — 6. From 
the tendency which delay has to make a compliance with these 
demands more difficult than it is at present. — 7. From the dan- 
ger of God's withdrawing his Spirit, compared with the dread- 
ful case of a sinner given up by it. — 8. Which probably is now 
the case of many. — 9. Since, therefore, on the whole, whatev- 
er the event be, delays may prove matter of lamentation. — 10. 
The chapter concludes with an exhortation against yielding to 
them. And a prayer against temptations of that kind. 

1. I hope my last address so far awakened the convic- 
tions of my reader, as to bring him to this purpose, " that 
some time or other he would attend to religious considera- 
tions." But give me leave to ask earnestly and pointedly, 
When shall that be 1 " Go thy way for this time, when I 
have a convenient season I will call for thee," (Acts, xxiv. 
25.) was the language and ruin of unhappy Felix, when he 
trembled under the reasonings and expostulations of the 
apostle. The tempter presumed not to urge that he should 
give up all thoughts of repentance and reformation ; but ouly 
that, considering the present hurry of his affairs, (as no doubt 
they were many,) he should defer it to another day. The 
artifice succeeded, and Felix was undone. 

2. Will you, reader, dismiss me thus 1 For your own sake, 
and oat of tender compassion to your perishing, immortal 
soul, I would not willingly take up with such a dismission 
and excuse. No, not though you shall fix a time; though 
you shall determine on the next year, or month, or week, or 
day. I would turn upon you, with all the eagerness and ten- 
derness of friendly importunity, and entreat you to bring the 
matter to an issue even now. For if you say, " I will think 
on these things to-morrow," I shall have little hope; and 
shall conclude, that all that I have hitherto urged, and all 
that you have read, has been offered and viewed in vain. 

3. When I invite you to the care and practice of religion, 






30 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

it may seem strange that it should be necessary for me affec- 
tionately to plead the cause with you, in order to your imme- 
diate regard and compliance. What I am inviting you to is 
so noble and excellent in itself, so well worthy of the dignity 
of our rational nature, so suitable to it, so manly, and so wise, 
that one would imagine you should take fire, as it were, at 
the first hearing of it; yea, that so delightful a view should 
presently possess your whole soul with a kind of indignation 
against yourself, that you pursued it no sooner. — " May I 
lift up my eyes and my soul to God ! May I devote myself 
to him ! May I even now commence a friendship with him : 
a friendship, which shall last forever, the security, the delight, 
the glory of this immortal nature of mine ! And shall I draw 
back and say, Nevertheless, let me not commence this friend- 
ship too soon : let me live at least a few weeks or a few days 
longer without God in the world." Surely it would be much 
more reasonable to turn inward, and say, " O my soul, on 
what vile husks hast thou been feeding, while thy Heavenly 
Father has been forsaken and injured 1 Shall I desire to 
multiply the days of my poverty, my scandal, and my mis- 
ery ?" On this principle, surely an immediate return to God 
should in all reason be chosen, rather than to play the fool 
any longer, and go on a little more to displease God, and 
thereby starve and wound your own soul ! even though your 
continuance in life were ever so certain, and your capacity 
to return to God and your duty ever so entirely in your own 
power, now, and in every future moment, through scores of 
years yet to come. 

4. But who, and what are you, that you should lay your 
account for years, or for months to come 1 " What is your 
life 1 Is it not even as a vapor, that appeareth for a little 
time, and then vanisheth away V 9 James, iv. 14. And what 
is your security, or what is your peculiar warrant, that you 
should thus depend upon the certainty of its continuance 1 
and that so absolutely as to venture, as it were, to pawn 
your soul upon it 1 Why, you will perhaps say, " I am 
young, and in all my bloom and vigor ; I see hundreds about 
me who are more than double my age, and not a few of them 
who seem to think it too soon to attend to religion yet." 

You view the living, and you talk thus. But I beseech 
you, think of the dead. Return, in your thoughts, to those 
graves in which you have left some of your young compan- 
ions and your friends. You saw them awhile ago gay and 
active, warm with life, and hopes, and schemes, And some 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 31 

of them would have thought a friend strangely importunate, 
that should have interrupted thein in their business, and their 
pleasures, with a solemn lecture on death and eternity. Yet 
they were then on the very borders of both. You have since 
seen their corpses, or at least their coffins, and probably car- 
ried about with you the badges of mourning which you re- 
ceived at their funerals. Those once vigorous, and perhaps 
beautiful bodies of theirs, now lie mouldering in the dust, as 
senseless and helpless as the most decrepid pieces of human 
nature which fourscore years ever brought down to it. And, 
what is infinitely more to be regarded, their souls, whether 
prepared for this great change, or thoughtless of it, have 
made their appearance before God, and are at this moment 
fixed either in heaven or in hell. Now let me seriously ask 
you, would it be miraculous, or would it be strange, if such 
an event should befall you % How are you sure that some 
fatal disease will not this day begin to work in your veins 1 
How are you sure that you shall ever be capable of reading 
or thinking any more, if you do not attend to what you now 
read, and pursue the thought which is now offering itself to 
your mind 1 This sudden alteration may at least possibly 
happen ; and if it does, it will be to you a terrible one indeed*. 
To be thus surprised into the presence of a forgotton God; 
to be torn away, at once, from a world to which your whole 
heart and soul has been rivetted : a world which has engross- 
ed all your thoughts and cares, all your desires and pursuits; 
and be fixed in a state which you never could be so far per- 
suaded to think of, as to spend so much as one hour in serious 
preparation for it; how must you even shudder at the appre- 
hension of it, and with what horror must it fill you \ It 
seems matter of wonder, that in such circumstances you are 
not almost distracted with the thoughts of the uncertainty of 
life, aud are not even ready to cjie for fear of death. To 
trifle with God any longer, after so, solemn an admonition as 
this, would be a circumstance of additional provocation, 
which, after all the rest, might be fatal; nor is there any 
thing you can expect in such a case, but that he should cut 
you oft* immediately, and teach other thoughtless creatures, 
by your ruin, what a hazardous experiment they make when 
they act as you are acting. 

5. And will you, after all, run this desperate risk *? For 
what imaginable purpose can you do it 1 Do you think the 
business of religion will become less necessary, or more easy, 
by your delay '! You know that it will not. You know, 



32 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

that, whatever the blessed God demands now, he will also 
demand twenty or thirty years hence, if you should live to 
see the time. God has fixed his method, in which he will 
pardon and accept sinners in his Gospel. And will he ever 
alter that method 1 Or if he will not, can men alter it 7 . 
You like not to think of repenting, and humbling yourself be- 
fore God, to receive righteousness and life from his free grace 
in Christ ; and you, above all, dislike the thought of return- 
ing to God in the ways of holy obedience. But will he ever 
dispense with any of these, and publish a new Gospel, with 
promises of life and salvation to impenitent unbelieving sin- 
ners, if they will but call themselves Christians, and submit 
to a few external rites 1 How T long do you think you might 
wait for such a change in the constitution of things 1 You 
know death will come upon you, and you cannot but know, 
in your own conscience, that a general dissolution will come 
upon the world long before God can thus deny himself, and 
contradict all his perfections and all his declarations. 

6. Or if his demands continue the same, as they assuredly 
will, do you think any thing which is now disagreeable to 
you in them, will be less disagreeable hereafter than it is at 
present ? Shall you love to sin less, when it is become more 
habitual to you, and when your conscience is yet more enfee- 
bled and debauched 1 If you are running with the footmen 
and fainting, shall you be able cc to contend with the horse- 
man!" Jer. xii. 5. Surely you cannot imagine it. You 
would not say, in any distemper which threatened your life, 
(i I will stay till I grow a little worse, and then I will apply 
to a physician : I will let my disease get a little more root- 
ing in my vitals, and then I will try what can be done to 
remove it." No, it is only where the life of the soul is con- 
cerned, that men think thus wildly: the life and health of 
the body appear too precious to be thus trifled away. 

7. If, after such desperate experiments, you are ever recov- 
ered, it must be by an operation of Divine grace on your soul, 
yet more powerful and more wonderful in proportion to the 
increasing inveteracy of your spiritual maladies. And can 
you expect that the Holy Spirit should be more ready to as- 
sist you, in consequence of your having so shamefully trifled 
with him, and affronted him 1 He is now, in some measure, 
moving on your heart. If you feel any secret relentings in it 
upon what you read, it is a sign that you are not yet utterly 
forsaken. But who can tell, whether these are not the last 
touches he will ever give to a heart so long hardened against 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 33 

him 1 Who can tell but God may this day " swear, in his 
wrath, that you shall not enter into his rest V 1 Heb. iii. IS. 
I have been telling you that you may iaimediately die. You 
own it is possible you may. And can you think of any thing 
more terrible 1 Yes, sinner, I will tell you of one thing more 
dreadful than immediate death and immediate damnation. 
The blessed God may say, " As for that wretched creature, 
who has so long trifled with me and provoked me, let him still 
live : let him live in the midst of prosperity and plenty : and 
let him live under the purest and the most powerful ordinances 
of the Gospel too ; that he may abuse them to aggravate his 
condemnation, and die under sevenfold guilt, and a sevenfold 
curse. I will not give him the grace to think of his ways for 
one serious moment more ; but he shall go on from bad to 
worse, filling up the measure of his iniquities, till death and 
destruction seize him in an unexpected hour, and ( wrath 
come upon him to the uttermost. 5 " 1 Thess. ii. 16. 

8. You think this is an uncommon case ; but I fear it is 
much otherwise. I fear there are few congregations, where 
the word of God has been faithfully preached, and where it 
has long been despised, especially by those whom it had once 
awakened, in which the eye of God does not see a number 
of such wretched souls ; though it is impossible for us, in this 
mortal state, to pronounce upon the case who they are. 

9. I pretend not to say how he will deal with you, O read- 
er ! whether he will immediately cut you oif, or seal you up 
under final hardness and impenitency of heart, or whether his 
grace may at length awaken you to consider your ways, and 
return to him, even when your heart is grown yet more ob- 
durate than it is at present. For to his Almighty grace noth- 
ing is hard, not even to transform a rock of marble into a 
man or a saint. But this I will confidently say, that, if you 
delay any longer, the time will come when you will bitterly 
repent of that delay, and either lament it before God in the 
anguish of your heart here, or curse your own folly and mad- 
ness in hell ; yea, when you will wish, that, dreadful as hell 
is, you had rather fallen into it sooner, than have lived in the 
midst of so many abused mercies, to render the degree of vour 
punishment more insupportable, and your sense of it more 
exquisitely tormenting. 

10. I do therefore earnestly exhort you, in the name of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and by the worth, and, if I may so speak, 
by the blood of your immortal and perishing scul, that you 
delay not a day, or an hour longer. Far from " giving sleep 

4 



34 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

to your eyes, or slumber to your eyelids," (Prov. vi. 4.) in 
the continued neglect of this important concern, take with 
you, even now, " words, and turn unto the Lord :" (Hos. xiv. 
2.) and before you quit the place where you now are, fall upon 
your knees in his sacred presence, and pour out your heart 
in such language, or at least to some such purpose as this : 

A Prayer for one who is tempted to delay applying to 
Religion, though under some conviction of its impor- 
tance. 

" O thou righteous and holy Sovereign of heaven and earth ! 
thou God. 'in whose hand my breath is, and whose are all 
my ways V Dan. v. 23. I confess I have been far from glo- 
rifying thee, or conducting myself according to the intimations 
or the declarations of thy will. I have therefore reason to 
adore thy forbearance and goodness, that thou hast not long 
since stopped my breath, and cut me otf from the land of the 
living. I adore thy patience, that I have not, months and 
years ago, been an inhabitant of hell, where ten thousand 
delaying sinners are now lamenting their folly, and will be 
lamenting it forever. But, O God, how possible is it, that 
this trilling heart of mine may at length betray me into the 
same ruin ! and then, alas ! into a ruin aggravated by all this 
patience and forbearance of thine I I am convinced, that, 
sooner or later, religion must be my serious care, or I am 
undone. And yet my foolish heart draws back from the yoke ; 
yet I stretch myself upon the bed of sloth, and cry out for ( a 
little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding 
of the hands to sleep.' Prov. vi. 10. Thus does my corrupt 
heart plead fur its own indulgence against the eonviction of 
my better judgment. What shall I say 2 . O Lord, save me 
from myself! Save rae from the artifices and deceitfulness 
of sin ! Save me from the treachery of this perverse and 
Jegenerate nature of mine, and lix upon my mind what I have 
now been reading ! 

" O Lord, I am not now instructed in truths which were 
before quite unknown. Often have I been warned of the un- 
certainty of life, and the great uncertainty of the day of salva- 
tion. And I have formed some light purposes, and have 
begun to take a few irresolute steps in my way toward a re- 
turn to thee. But, alas ! I have been only, as it were, flut- 
tering about religion, and have never fixed upon it. All my 
resolutions have been scattered like smoke, or dispersed like 
<i cloudy vapor before the wind. O that thou wouldst now 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 35 

bring these things home to my heart, with a more powerful 
conviction than it hath ever yet felt ! O that thou wouldst pur- 
sue me with them, even when I flee from them ! If I should 
even grow mad enough to endeavor to escape them any more, 
may thy Spirit address me in the language of effectual terror, 
and add all the most powerful methods which thou knowest to 
be necessary, to awaken me from this lethargy, which must 
otherwise be mortal ! May the sound of these things be in 
mine ears i when I go out, and when I come in, when I lie 
down, and when- 1 rise up !' Deut. vi. 7. And if the repose 
of the night, and the business of the day, be for a while inter- 
rupted by the impression, be it so, O God ! if I may but there- 
by carry on my business with thee to better purpose, and at 
length secure a repose in thee, instead of all that terror which 
I now find, when ' I think upon God, and am troubled.' Psal. 
lxxvii. 3. 

" O Lord, c my flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am 
afraid of thy judgments.' Psal. cxix. 120. I am afraid lest, 
even now that I have begun to think of religion, thou shouldst 
cut me off in this critical and important moment, before my 
thoughts grow to any ripeness, and blast, in eternal death, 
the first buddings and openings of it in my mind. But O 
spare me, I earnestly entreat thee : for thy mercies' sake, 
spare me a little longer ! It may be through thy grace, I 
shall return. It may be, if thou continuest thy patience 
toward me a while longer, there may be ' some better fruit 
produced by this cumberer of the ground.' Luke, xiii. 7, 8. 
And may the remembrance of that long forbearance, which 
thou hast already exercised toward me, prevent my con- 
tinuing to trifle with thee, and with my own soul ! From this 
day, O Lord, from this hour, from this moment, may I be 
able to date more lasting impressions of religion, than have 
ever yet been made upon my heart by all that I have ever 
read, or all that I have heard. Amen." 



36 RISE AND PROGRESS OP 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE SINNER ARRAIGNED AND CONVICTED. 

1. Conviction of guilt necessary. — 2. A charge of rebellion against 
God advanced. — 3. Where it is shown — that all men are born 
under God's law. — 4. That no man hath perfectly kept it. — 5. 
An appeal to the reader's conscience on this head, that he hath 
not. — 6. That to have broken it, is an evil inexpressibly great. 
— 7. Illustrated by a more particular view of the aggravations 
of this guilt, arising — from knowledge. — 8. From divine favors 
received. — 9. From convictions of conscience overborne. — 10. 
From the strivings of God's Spirit resisted. — 11. From vows 
and resolutions broken. — 12. The charges summed up, and left 
upon the sinner's conscience. The sinner's confession under 
a general conviction of guilt. 

1. As I am attempting to lead you to true religion, and not 
merely to some superficial form of it, I am sensible I can do 
it no otherwise than in the way of deep humiliation. And 
therefore, supposing you are persuaded, through the divine 
blessing on what you have before read, to take it into consid- 
eration, I would now endeavor, in the first place, with all the 
seriousness I can, to make you heartily sensible of your guilt 
before God. For I well know, that, unless you are convinc- 
ed of this, and affected with the conviction, all the provisions 
of Gospel grace will be slighted, and your soul infallibly de- 
stroyed, in the midst of the noblest mean's appointed for its 
recovery. I am fully persuaded, that thousands live and die 
in a course of sin, without feeling upon their hearts any sense 
that they are sinners, though they cannot, for shame, but own 
it in words. And therefore let me deal faithfully with you, 
though I may seem to deal roughly ; for complaisance is not 
to give law to addresses in which the life of your soul is con- 
cerned. 

2. Permit me therefore, O sinner, to consider myself at this 
time as an advocate for God, as one employed in his name to 
plead against thee, and to charge thee with nothing less than 
being a rebel and a traitor against the Sovereign Majesty of 
heaven and earth. However thou mayest be dignified or dis- 
tinguished among men : if the noblest blood run in thy veins; 
if thy seat were among princes, and thine arm were " the ter- 
ror of the mighty in die land of the living," (Ezek. xxxii. 
27.) it would be necessary thou shouldst be told, and told 
plainly, thou hast broken the laws of the King of kings, and 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 37 

by the breach of them art become obnoxious to his righteous 
condemnation. 

3. Your conscience tells you, that you were born the natu- 
ral subject of God, born under the indispensable obligations 
of his law. For it is most apparent, that the constitution of 
your rational nature, which makes you capable of receiving 
law from God, binds you to obey it. And it is equally evi- 
dent and certain, that you have not exactly obeyed this law, 
nay, that you have violated it in many aggravated instances. 

4. Will you dare to deny this 1 Will you dare to assert 
your innocence 1 Remember it must be a complete innocence ; 
yes, and a perfect righteousness too, or it can stand you in no 
stead, further than to prove, that, though a condemned sinner, 
you are not quite so criminal as some others, and will not have 
quite so hot a place in hell as they. And when this is con- 
sidered, will you plead not guilty to the charge 1 Search the 
records of your own conscience, for God searcheth them : 
ask it seriously, " Have you never in your life sinned against 
God 1" Solomon declared, that in his days " there was not a 
just man upon earth, who did good and sinned not ;" (Eccles. 
vii. 20.) and the apostle Paul, " that all had sinned and come 
short of the glory of God," (Rom. iii. 23.) " that both Jews 
and Gentiles (which, you know, comprehend the whole hu- 
man race) were all under sin." Rom. iii. 9. And can you 
pretend any imaginable reason to believe the world is, grown 
so much better since their days, that any should now plead 
their own case as an exception 1 Or will you, however, 
presume to arise in the face of the omniscient Majesty of 
heaven, and say, I am the man % 

5. Supposing, as before, you have been free from those 
gross acts of immorality, which are so pernicious to society, 
that they have generally been punishable by human laws ; 
can you pretend that you have not, in smaller instances, vio- 
lated the rules of piety, of temperance, and charity 1 Is 
there any one person, who has intimately known you, that 
would not be able to testify you had said or done something 
amiss 1 Or if others could not convict you, would not your 
own heart do it 1 Does it not prove you guilty of pride, of 
passion, of sensuality, of an excessive fondness of the world 
and its enjoyments 1 of murmuring, or at least of secretly 
repining against God, under the strokes of an afflictive prov- 
idence; of misspending a great deal of your time; abusing 
the gifts of God's bounty, to vain, if not, in some instances, 
to pernicious purposes ; of mocking him when you have pre- 



38 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

tended to engage in his worship, " drawing near to him with 
your mouth and your lips, while your heart has been far from 
him V Isa. xxix. 13. Does not conscience condemn you of 
some one breach of the law at least 1 And by one breach of 
it, you are, in a sense, a scriptural sense, " become guilty of 
all," (Jam. ii. 10.) and are as incapable of being justified 
before God, by any obedience of your own, as if you had 
committed ten thousand offences. But, in reality, there are 
ten thousand, and more, chargeable to your account. When 
you come to reflect on all your sins of negligence, as w$ll as 
on those of commission ; on all the instances in which you 
have " failed to do good, when it was in the power of your 
hand to do it;" (Prov. iii. 27.) on all the instances in which 
acts of devotion have been omitted, especially in secret; 
and on all those cases in which you have shown a stupid 
disregard to the honor of God, and to the temporal and eter- 
nal happiness of your fellow-creatures : when all these, I 
say, are reviewed, the number will swell beyond all possibil- 
ity of account, and force you to cry out, "Mine iniquities 
are more than the hairs of my head." Psalm xl. 12. They 
will appear in such a light before you, that your own heart 
will charge you with countless multitudes ; and how much 
• more " then, that God, who is greater than your heart and 
knowethall things.' 5 1 John, iii. 20. 

6. And say, sinner, is it a little thing, that you have pre- 
sumed to set light by the authority of the God of heaven, and 
to violate his law, if it had been by mere carelessness and 
inattention 1 How much more heinous, therefore, is the guilt, 
when in so many instances you have done it knowingly and 
willfully % Give me leave seriously to ask you, and let me 
entreat you to ask your own soul, " against whom hast thou 
magnified thyself! against whom hast thou exalted thy voice," 
(2 Kings, xix. 22.) or " lifted up thy rebellious hand V On 
whose law, O sinner, hast thou presumed to trample 1 and 
whose friendship, and whose enmity, hast thou thereby dared 
to affront 1 Is it a man like thyself, that thou hast insulted 1 
Is it only a temporal monarch % Only one " who can kill thy 
body, and then hath no more that he can do V* Luke, xii 4. 

Nay, sinner, thou wouldst not have dared to treat a tem- 
poral prince as thou hast treated the " King Eternal, Im- 
mortal," and " Invisible," 1 Tim. i. 17. No price could have 
hired thee to deal by the majesty of an earthly sovereign, at 
thou hast dealt by that God, before whom the cherubim and 
seraphim a.re continually bowing. Not one opposing or com- 



ix 
a 
'f 

d 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 39 

plaining, disputing or murmuring word, is heard among all 
the celestial legions, when the intimations of his will are 
published to them. And who art thou, O wretched man! 
who art thou, that thou shouldst oppose him 1 That thou 
shouldst oppose and provoke a God of infinite power and 
terror, who needs but exert one single act of his sovereign 
will, and thou art in a moment stripped of every possession ; 
cut off from every hope ; destroyed and rooted up from ex- 
istence, if that were his pleasure i or, what is inconceivably 
worse, consigned over to the severest and most lasting ago- 
nies 1 Yet this is the God whom thou hast offended, whom 
thou hast affronted to his face, presuming to violate his ex- 
press laws in his very presence. This is the God, before 
whom thou standest as a convicted criminal : convicted, not 
of one or two particular offences, but of thousands and ten 
thousands ; of a course and series of rebellion and provoca- 
tions, in which thou hast persisted, more or less, ever since 
thou wast born, and the particulars of which have been at- 
tended with almost every conceivable circumstance of aggra- 
vation. Reflect on particulars, and deny the charge if you 
can. 

7. If knowledge be an aggravation of guilt, thy guilt, O 
sinner, is greatly aggravated ! For thou wast born in Em- 
manuel's land, and God hath ii written to thee the great things 
of his law," yet " thou hast accounted them as a strange 
thing." Hos. viii. 12. Thou hast "known to do good, and 
hast not done it;" (James, iv. 17.) and therefore to thee 
the omission of it has been sin indeed. " Hast thou not 
known 1 Hast thou not heard 1" Isa. xl. 28. Wast thou 
not early taught the will of God 1 Hast thou not since re- 
ceived repeated lessons, by which it has been inculcated again 
and again, in public and in private, by preaching and read- 
ing the word of God 1 Nay, hath not thy duty been in some 
instances so plain, that, even without any instruction at all, 
thine own reason might easily have inferred it 1 And hast 
thou not also been warned of the consequences of disobedi- 
ence'? Hast thou not "known the righteous judgment of 
God, that they who commit such things are worthy of death V 
Yet thou hast, perhaps, " not only done the same, but hast 
had pleasure in those that do them :" (Rom. i. 32.) hast 
chosen them for thy most intimate friends and companions ; 
so as thereby to strengthen, by the force of example and 
converse, the hands of each other in your iniquities. 

8. Nay more, if Divine love and mercy be any aggravation 



40 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

of the sins committed against it, thy crimes, O sinner, are 
heinously aggravated. Must thou not acknowledge it, O 
foolish creature and unwise 1 Hast thou not been H nour- 
ished and brought up by him as his child, and yet hast rebelled 
against him V 3 Isa. i. 2. Did not God " take you out of the 
womb V 3 Psal. xxii. 9. Did he not watch over you in your 
infant days, and guard you from a multitude of dangers, which 
the most careful parent or nurse could not have observed or 
warded off] Has he not given you your rational powers % 
and is it not by him you have been favored with every oppor- 
tunity of improving them 1 Has he not every day supplied 
your wants with an unwearied liberality, and added, with 
respect to many who will read this, the delicacies of life to 
its neccessary supports 1 Has he not " heard your cry when 
trouble came upon you'?" (Job, xxvii. 9.) and frequently ap- 
peared for your deliverance, when in the distress of nature 
you have called upon him for help ] Has he not rescued you 
from ruin, when it seemed just ready to swallow you up ; and 
healed your diseases, when it seemed to all about you, that 
the "residue of your days was cut off in the midst 1" Psal. 
cii. 24. Or, if it has not been so, is not this long-continued 
and uninterrupted health, which you have enjoyed for so many 
years, to be acknowledged as an equivalent obligation 1 Look 
around upon all your possessions, and say, what one thing 
have you in the world which his goodness did not give you, 
and which he hath not thus far preserved to you ] Add to 
all this the kind notices of his will which he hath sent you; 
the tender expostulations which he hath used with you, to 
bring you to a wiser and better temper ; and the discoveries 
and gracious invitations of his Gospel, which you have heard, 
and which you have despised ; and then say, whether your 
rebellion has not been aggravated by the vilest ingratitude, 
and whether that aggravation can be accounted small 1 

9. Again, if it be any aggravation of sin to be committed 
against conscience, thy crimes, O sinner ! have been so ag- 
gravated. Consult the records of it; and then dispute the 
fact if you can. "There is a spirit in man, and the inspi- 
ration of the Almighty giveth him understanding;" (Job, 
xxxii. 8.) and that understanding will act, and a secret con- 
viction of being accountable to its Maker and Preserver is 
inseparable from the actings of it. It is easy to object to 
human remonstrances, and to give things false colorings be- 
fore men ; but the heart often condemns, while the tongue 
excuses. Have you not often found it so 1 Has not con- 






RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 41 

science remonstrated against your past conduct, and have not 
these remonstrances been very painful too 1 I have been as- 
sured, by a gentleman of undoubted credit, that, when he 
was in the pursuit of all the gayest sensualities of life, and 
was reckoned one of the happiest of mankind, he has seen 
a dog come into the room where he was among his merry 
companions, and has groaned inwardly, and said, " Oh ! 
that I had been that dog !" And. hast "thou, O sinner, felt 
nothing like this 1 Has thy conscience been so stupified, so 
"seared with a hot iron," (1 Tim. iv. 2.) that it has never 
cried out, for any of the violences which have been done it 1 
Has it never warned thee of the fatal consequences of what 
thou hast done in opposition to it 1 These warnings are, in 
effect, the voice of God ; they are the admonitions which he 
gave thee by his vicegerent in thy breast. And when his 
sentence for thy evil works is executed upon thee in everlast- 
ing death, thou shalt hear that voice speaking to thee again, 
in a louder tone, and a severer accent, than before ; and thou 
shalt be tormented with its upbraidings through eternity, be- 
cause thou wouldst not, in time, hearken to its admonitions. 
10. Let me add further, if it be any aggravation that sin 
has been committed after God has been moving by his Spirit 
on the mind, surely your sin has been attended with that ag- 
gravation too. Under the Mosaic dispensation, dark and 
imperfect as it was, the Spirit strove with the Jews; else 
Stephen could not have charged it upon them, that through 
all their generations "they had always resisted him." Acts, 
vii. 51. Now, surely, we may much more reasonably ap- 
prehend that he strives with sinners under the Gospel. And 
have you never experienced any thing of this kind, even when 
there has been no external circumstance to awaken you, nor 
any pious teacher near you % Have you never perceived some 
secret impulse upon your mind, leading you to think of relig- 
ion, urging you to an immediate consideration of it, sweetly 
inviting you to make trial of it, and warning you, that you 
would lament this stupid neglect ! O sinner, why were not 
these happy motions attended to 1 Why did you not, as it 
were, spread out all the sails of your soul, to catch that 
heavenly, that favorable breeze 1 But you have carelessly 
neglected it : you have overborne these kind influences. 
How reasonably then might the sentence have gone forth in 
righteous displeasure, " My Spirit shall no more strive." 
Gen. vi. 3. And indeed, who can say that it is not already 
gone forth 1 If you feel no secret agitation of mind, no 



42 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

remorse, no awakening, while you read such a remonstrance 
as this, there will be room, great room to suspect it. 

11. There is indeed one aggravation more, which may not 
attend your guilt : I mean, that of being committed against 
solemn covenant engagements : a circumstance which has 
lain heavy on the consciences of many, who perhaps in the 
main series of their lives have served God with great integ- 
rity. But let me call you to think, to what this is owing. 
Is it not, that you have never personally made any solemn 
profession of devoting yourself, to God at all *? have never 
done any thing, which has appeared to your own apprehen- 
sion an act by which you have made a covenant with him, 
though you have heard so much of his covenant, though you 
have been so solemnly and so tenderly invited to it 1 And 
in this view, how monstrous must this circumstance appear, 
which at first was mentioned as some alleviation of guilt ! 
Yet I must add, that you are not, perhaps, altogether so free 
from guilt on this head as you may at first imagine. Has 
your heart been, even from your youth, hardened to so un- 
common a degree, that you have never cried to God in any 
season of danger and difficulty 1 And did you never mingle 
vows with those cries 1 Did you never promise, that, if God 
would hear and help you in that hour of extremity, you would 
forsake your sins, and serve him as long as you lived 1 He 
heard] and helped you, or you had not been reading these 
lines ; and, by such deliverance, did as it were bind down 
your vows upon you ; and therefore your guilt, in the viola- 
tion of them, remains before him, though you are stupid 
enough to forget them. Nothing is forgotten, nothing is over- 
looked by him ; and the day will come, when the record shall 
be laid before you too. 

12. And now, O sinner, think seriously with thyself, what 
defence thou wilt make to all this ! Prepare thine apology ; 
call thy witnessess ; make thine appeal from him, whom 
thou hast thus offended, to some superior judge, if such there 
be. Alas ! those apologies are so weak and vain, that one 
of thy fellow-worms may easily detect and confound them ; 
as I will endeavor presently to show thee. But thy forebod- 
ing conscience already knows the issue. Thou art convicted, 
convicted of the most aggravated offences. Thou " hast not 
humbled thine heart, but lifted up thyself against the Lord of 
heaven;" (Dan. v. 22, 23.) and " thy sentence shall come 
forth from his presence." Psalm xvii. 2. Thou hast violated 
his known laws ; thou hast despised and abused his number- 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 43 

less mercies ; thou hast affronted conscience, his vicegerent 
in thy soul ; thou hast resisted and grieved his Spirit ; thou 
hast trifled with him in all thy pretended submissions ; and, 
in one word, and that his own, " thou hast done evil things 
as thou couldst." Jer. iii. 5. Thousands are, no doubt, al- 
ready in hell, whose guilt never equalled thine ; and it is as- 
tonishing, that God hath spared thee to read this represent- 
ation of thy case, or to make any pause upon it. O waste 
not so precious a moment, but enter attentively, and as hum- 
bly as thou canst, into those reflections which suit a case so 
lamentable and so terrible as thine. 

The Confession of a sinner, convinced in general of 
his Guilt. 

" O God ! thou injured Sovereign, thou all-penetrating and 
Almighty Judge I what shall I say to this charge 1 Shall I 
pretend I am wronged by it, and stand on the defence in thy 
presence 1 I dare not do it ; for c thou knowest my foolish- 
ness, and none of my sins are hid from thee.' Psalm Ixix. 5. 
My conscience tells me, that a denial of my crimes would 
only increase them, and add new fuel to the fire of thy de- 
served wrath. s If I justify myself, mine own mouth will 
condemn me; if I say I am perfect, it will also prove me 
perverse;' (Job, ix. 20.) 'for innumerable evils have com- 
passed me about : mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, 
so that I am not able to look up : they are,' as I have been 
told in thy name, ' more than the hairs of my head ; there- 
fore my heart faileth me.' Psalm xl. 12. I am more guilty 
than it is possible for another to declare or represent. My 
heart speaks more than any other accuser. And thou, O 
Lord, art much greater than my heart, and knowest all things. 
1 John, iii. 20. 

ec What has my life been but a course of rebellion against 
thee 1 It is not this or that particular action alone I have to 
lament. Nothing has been right in its principles, and views, 
and ends. My whole soul has been disordered. All my 
thoughts, my affections, my desires, my pursuits, have been 
wretchedly alienated from "thee. I have acted as if I had 
hated thee, who art infinitely the loveliest of all beings ; as if 
I had been contriving how I might tempt thee to the utter- 
most, and weary out thy patience, marvellous as it is. My 
actions have been evil, my words yet more evil than they ! 
and, O blessed God, my heart, how much more corrupt than 
either ! What an inexhausted fountain of sin has there been 



44 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

in it ! A fountain of original corruption, which mingled its 
bitter streams with the days of early childhood; and which, 
alas ! flows on even to this day, beyond what actions or words 
could express. I see this to have been the case with regard 
to what I can particularly survey. But, oh ! how many 
months and years have I forgotten, concerning which I only 
know this in the general, that they are much like those I can 
remember ; except it be, that I have been growing worse and 
worse, and provoking thy patience more and more, though 
every new exercise of it was more and more wonderful. 

"And how am I astonished that thy forbearance is still 
continued ! It is because thou art £ God, and not man.' Hos. 
xi. 9. Had I, a sinful worm, been thus injured, I could not 
have endured it. Had I been a prince, I had long since 
done justice on any rebel whose crimes had borne but a dis- 
tant resemblance to mine. Had I been a parent, I had long 
since cast off the ungrateful child who had made me such a 
return as I have all my life long been making to thee, O thou 
Father of my spirit ! The flame of natural affection would 
have been extinguished, and his sight and his very name 
would have become hateful to me. Why, then, O Lord, am 
I not ' cast out from thy presence V Jew lii. 3. Why am I 
not sealed up under an irreversible sentence of destruction 1 
That I live, I owe to thine indulgence. But, oh ! if there 
be yet any way of deliverance, if there be yet any hope for 
so guilty a creature, may it be opened upon me by thy Gos- 
pel and thy grace ! And if any further alarm, humiliation, 
or terror, be necessary to my security and salvation, may I 
meet them, and bare them all ! Wound my heart, O Lord, 
so that thou wilt but afterwards < heal it; 1 and break it in 
pieces, if thou wilt but at length condescend to bind it up." 
Hos. vi. 1. 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 45 

CHAPTER V. 

THE SINNER STRIPPED OF HIS VAIN PLEAS. 

1. 2. The vanity of those pleas which sinners may secretly con- 
fide in, is so apparent, that they will be ashamed at last to 
mention them before God. — 3. Such as, that they descended 
from pious parents. — 4. That they had attended to the specu- 
lative part of religion. — 5. That they had entertained sound 
notions. — 6. 7. That they had expressed a zealous regard to 
religion, and attended the outward forms of worship with those 
they apprehend the purest churches. — 8. That they had been 
free from gross immoralities. — 9. That they did not think the 
consequences of neglecting religion would have been so fatal. 
— 10. That they could not do otherwise than they did. — 11. 
Conclusion. With the meditation of a convinced sinner giv- 
ing up his vain pleas before God. 

1. My last discourse left the sinner in very alarming and 
very pitiable circumstances : a criminal convicted at the bar 
of God, disarmed of all pretences to perfect innocence and 
sinless obedience, and consequently obnoxous to the sentence 
of a holy law, which can make no allowance for any trans- 
gression, no not for the least; but pronounces death and a curse 
against every act of disobedience: how much more then against 
those numberless and aggravated acts of rebellion, of which, 

sinner ! thy conscience hath condemned thee before God 1 

1 would hope some of my readers will ingenuously fall under 
the conviction, and not think of making any apology ; for 
sure I am, that, humbly to plead guilty at the divine bar, is 
the most decent, and, all things considered, the most prudent 
thing that can be done in such an unhappy state. Yet I 
know the treachery, and the self-flattery of a sinful and cor- 
rupted heart. I know what excuses it makes, and how, when 
it is driveu from one refuge, it flies to another, to fortify it- 
self against conviction, and to persuade, not merely another, 
but itself, " That if it has been in some instances to blame, 
it is not quite so criminal as was represented ; that there are 
at least considerations that plead in its favor, which, if they 
cannot justify, will in some degree excuse." A secret reserve 
of this kind, sometimes perhaps scarcely formed into a dis- 
tinct reflection, breaks the force of conviction, and often pre- 
vents that deep humiliation before God, which is the happiest 
token of approaching deliverance. I wil 1 therefore examine 
into some of these particulars ; and for that purpose would 
seriously ask thee, O sinner ! what thou hast to offer in ar- 



46 RISE AND PROGRESS OP 






rest of judgment 1 What plea thou canst urge for thyself, 
why the sentence of God should not go forth against thee, 
and why thou shouldst not fall into the hands of his justice '1 

2. But this I must premise, that the question is not, How 
wouldst thou answer to me, a weak sinful worm like thyself, 
who am shortly to stand with thee at the same bar 1 and, 
" the Lord grant that I may find mercy of the Lord in that 
day ;" (2 Tim. i. 18.) but, what wilt thou reply to thy Judge % 
What couldst thou plead, if thou wast now actually before 
his tribunal; where, to multiply vain words, and to frame 
idle apologies, would be but to increase thy guilt and provo- 
cation 1 Surely the very thought of his presence must super- 
sede a thousand of those trifling excuses which now some- 
times impose on " a generation that are pure in their own 
eyes," though they " are not washed from their filthiness !" 
(Prov. xxx. 12.) or while they are conscious of their impu- 
rities, "trust in words that cannot profit," (Jer. vii. 8.) and 
" lean upon broken reeds." Isa. xxxvi. 6. 

3. You will not, to be sure, in such a condition, plead 
"that you are descended from pious parents." That was 
indeed your privilege ; and wo be to you, that you have abus- 
ed it, and " forsaken the God of your fathers." 2 Chron. vii. 
22. Ishmael was immediately descended from Abraham, 
the friend of God, and Esau was the son of Isaac, who was 
born according to the promise ; yet you know they were both 
cut off from the blessing, to which they apprehended they 
had a kind of hereditary claim. You may remember that 
our Lord does not only speak of one who could call " Abra- 
ham father," who was " tormented in flames;" (Luke, xvi. 
24.) but expressly declares, that many of the children of the 
kingdom shall be shut out of it ; and when others come from 
the most distant parts to sit down in it, shall be distinguished 
from their companions in misery only by louder accents of 
lamentation, and more furious "gnashing of teeth." Matt, 
viii. 11, 12. 

4. Nor will you then presume to plead, " that you had 
exercised your thoughts about the speculative parts of relig- 
ion." For to what end can this serve, but to increase your 
condemnation 1 Since you have broken God's law, since 
you have contradicted the most obvious and apparent obliga- 
tions of religion, to have inquired into it, and argued upon 
it, is a circumstance that proves your guilt more audacious. 
What! did you think religion was merely an exercise of 
men's wit, and the amusement of their curiosity 1 If yoa 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 47 

argued about it on the principles of common sense, you must 
have judged and proved it to be a practical thing ; and if it 
was so, why did you not practice accordingly 1 You knew 
the particular branches of it ; and why then did you not at- 
tend to every one of them 2 . To have pleaded an unavoidable 
ignorance, would have been the happiest plea that could have 
remained for you ; nay, an actual, though faulty ignorance, 
would have been some little allay of your guilt. But if, by 
your own confession, you have " known your Master's will, 
and have not done it," you bear witness against yourself, that 
you deserve to be " beaten with many stripes." Luke, xii. 47. 

5- Nor yet, again, will it suffice to say, " that you have 
had right notions both of the doctrines and the precepts of 
religion." Your advantage for practicing it was therefore 
the greater ; but understanding, and acting right, can never 
go for the same thing in the judgment of God or of man. 
Li " believing there is one God/' you have done well; but 
the " devils also believe and tremble." James, ii. 19. In 
acknowledging Christ to be the Son of God and the Holy 
One, you have done well too ; but you know the unclean 
spirits made this very orthodox confession ; (Luke, iv. 34, 
41.) and yet they are "reserved in everlasting chains, under 
darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." Jude, ver. 6. 
And will you place any secret confidence in that which might 
be pleaded by the infernal spirits, as well as by you 1 

6. But perhaps you may think of pleading, that "you have 
actually done something in religion." Having judged what 
faith was the soundest, and what worship the purest, " you 
entered yourself into those societies, where such articles of 
faith were professed, and such forms of worship were prac- 
tised ; and among these you have signalized yourself, by the 
exactness of your attendance, by the zeal with which you 
have espoused' their cause, and by the earnestness with which 
you have contended for such principles and practices." O 
sinner ! I much fear that this zeal of thine about the circum- 
stantials of religion, will swell thine account, rather than be 
allowed in abatement of it. He that searches thine heart, 
knows from whence it arose, and how far it extended. Per- 
haps he sees that it was all hypocrisy, an artful veil under 
which thou wast carrying on thy mean designs for this world ; 
while the sacred name of God and religion were profaned 
and prostituted in the basest manner; and if so, thou art 
cursed with a distinguished curse, for so daring an insult on 
the Divine omniscience, as well as justice. Or perhaps the. 



48 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 






earnestness with which you have been " contending for the 
faith and worship which was once delivered to the saints, " 
(Jude, ver. 3.) or which, it is possible, you may have rashly 
concluded to be that, might be mere pride and bitterness of 
spirit ; and all the zeal you have expressed might possibly 
arise from a confidence of your own judgment, from an im- 
patience of contradiction, or some secret malignity of spirit, 
which delighteth itself in condemning, and even in worrying 
others; yea, which, if I may be allowed the expression, 
fiercely preys upon religion, as the tiger upon the lamb, to 
turn it into a nature most contrary to its own. And shall 
this screen you before the great tribunal 1 Shall it not rather 
awaken the displeasure it is pleaded to avert 1 

7. But say that this zeal for notions and forms has been 
ever so well intended, and, so far as it has gone, ever so well 
conducted too ; what will that avail toward vindicating thee 
in so many instances of negligence and disobedience, as are 
recorded against thee in the book of God's remembrance 1 
Were the revealed doctrines of the Gospel to be earnestly 
maintained, (as indeed they ought), and was the great prac- 
tical purpose for which they were revealed to be forgot 1 
Was the very mint, and anise, and cummin, to be tithed ; 
and were " the weightier matters of the law to be omitted," 
(Matt, xxiii. 23.) even that love to God, which is its " first 
and great command 1" Matt. xxii. 38. Oh ! how wilt thou 
be able to vindicate even the justest sentence thou hast passed 
on others for their infidelity, or for their disobedience, with- 
out being "condemned out of thine own mouth V 3 Luke, 
xix. 22. 

8. Will you then plead " your fair moral character, your 
works of righteousness and of mercy 1" Had your obedience 
to the law of God been complete, the plea might be allowed as 
important and valid. But I have supposed, and proved above, 
that conscience testifies to the contrary ; and you will not 
now dare to contradict it. I add further, had these works 
of yours, which you now urge, proceeded from a sincere love 
to God, and a genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you 
would not have thought of pleading them any otherwise than 
as an evidence of your interest in the Gospel covenant, and in 
the blessings of it, procured by the righteousness and blood 
of the Redeemer ; and that faith, had it been sincere, would 
have been attended with such deep humility, and with such 
solemn apprehensions of the Divine holiness and glory, that, 
instead of pleading any works of your own before God, you 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 4l> 

would rather have implored his pardon for the mixture of 
sinful imperfection attending the very best of them. Now, 
as you are a stranger to this humbling and sanctifying prin- 
ciple, (which here in this address I suppose my reader to be), 
it is absolutely necessary you should be plainly and faithfully 
told, that neither sobriety, nor honesty, nor humanity, will 
justify you before the tribunal of God, when he " lays judg- 
ment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, 5 ' (Isai. 
xxviii. 17.) and examines all your actions and all your 
thoughts with the strictest severity. You have not been a 
drunkard, an adulterer, or a robber. So far it is well. You 
stand before a righteous God, who will do you ample justice, 
and therefore will not condemn you for drunkenness, adultery, 
or robbery ; but you have forgotten him, your Parent, and 
your Benefactor ; you have " cast off fear, and restrained 
prayer before him ;" (Job, xv. 4.) you have despised the blood 
of his Son, and all the immortal blessings that he purchased 
with it. For this, therefore, you are judged, and condemned. 
And as for any thing that has looked like virtue and human- 
ity in your temper and conduct, the exercise of it has in great 
measure been its own reward, if there were any thing more 
than form and artifice in it ; and the various bounties of Di- 
vine Providence to you, amidst all your numberless provoca- 
tions, have been a thousand times more than an equivalent 
for such defective and imperfect virtues as these. You re- 
main therefore chargeable with the guilt of a thousand of- 
fences, for which you have no excuse, though there are some 
other instances in which you did not grossly offend. And 
those good works, in which you have been so ready to trust, 
will no more vindicate you in his awful presence, than a man's 
kindness to his poor neighbors would be allowed as a plea 
in arrest of judgment, when he stood convicted of high trea- 
son against his prince. 

9. But you will, perhaps, be ready to say, " you did not 
expect all this : you did not think the consequences of neg- 
lecting religion would have been so fatal. 55 And why did you 
not think it 1 Why did you not examine more attentively, 
and more impartially 1 Why did you suffer the pride and 
folly of your vain heart to take up with such superficial ap- 
pearances, and trust the light suggestions of your own preju- 
diced mind against the express declaration of the word of 
God 1 Had you reflected on his character as the supreme 
Governor of the world, you would have seen the necessity of 
such a day of retribution as we are now refering to. Had 

5 



50 RISE AXD PROGRESS OF 

you regarded the Scripture, the divine authority of which 
you professed to believe, every page might have taught you 
to expect it. " You did not think of religion I" and of what 
were you thinking, when you forgot or neglected it 1 Had 
you so much employment of another kind 1 Of what kind, 
I beseech yon 1 What end could you propose, by any thing 
else, of equal moment 1 Nay, with all your engagements, 
conscience will tell you, that there have been seasons, when, 
for want of thought, time and life have been a burden to you; 
yet you guarded against thought as against an enemy, and 
cast up, as it were, an entrenchment of inconsideration around 
you on every side, as if it had been to defend you from the 
most dangerous invasion. God knew you were thoughtless; 
and therefore he sent you " line upon line, and precept upon 
precept," (Isai. xxviii. 10.) in such plain language, that it 
needed no genius or study to understand it. He tried you 
too with afflictions, as well as with mercies, to awaken you 
out of your fatal lethargy ; and yet, when awakened, you 
would lie down again upon the bed of sloth. And now, pleas- 
ing as your dreams might be, " 3 T ou must lie down in sorrow." 
Isai. 1. 11. Reflection has at last overtaken you, and must 
be heard as a tormenter, since it might not be heard as a 
friend. 

10. But some may perhaps imagine, that one important 
apology is yet unheard, and that there may be room to say, 
'•'•you were by the necessity of your nature, impelled to those 
things which are now charged upon you as crimes ; and that 
it was not in your power to have avoided them, in the cir- 
cumstances in which you were placed." If this will do any 
thing, it indeed promises to do much : so much that it will 
amount to nothing. If I were disposed to answer you, upon 
the folly and madness of your own principles, I might say, 
that the same consideration, which proves it was necessary 
for you to offend, proves also that it is necessary for God to 
punish ycu; and that, indeed, he cannot but do it; and I 
might further say, with an excellent writer, " that the same 
principles which destroy the injustice of sins, destroy the in- 
justice of punishment too." But if you cannot admit this; 
if you should still reply, in spite of principle, that it must be 
unjust to punish you for an action utterly and absolutely una- 
voidable ; I really think you would answer right. But in 
that answer you will contradict your own scheme, as I ob- 
served above ; and I leave your conscience to judge, what 
sort of a scheme that must be which would make all kind 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 51 

of punishment unjust : for the argument will on the whole be 
the same, whether with regard to human punishment, or di- 
vine. It is a scheme full of confusion and horror. You 
would not, I am sure, take it from a servant who had robbed 
you, and then fired your house : you would never inwardly 
believe, that he could not have helped it; or think that he 
had fairly excused himself by such a plea : and I am per- 
suaded, you would be so far from presuming to offer it to 
God at the great day, that you would not venture to turn it 
into a prayer even now. Imagine that you saw a malefactor 
dying with such words as these in his mouth : " O God ! it 
is true, I did indeed rob and murder my fellow-creatures ; 
but thou knowest, that, as my circumstances were ordered, 
I could not do otherwise : my will was irresistibly determined ' 
by the motives which thou didst set before me ; and I could 
as well have shaken the foundations of the earth, or dark- 
ened the sun in the firmament, as have resisted the impulse 
which bore me on." I put it to your conscience, whether 
you would not look on such a speech as this with detestation, 
as one enormity added to another. Yet, if the excuse would 
have any weight in your mouth, it would have equal weight 
in his; or would be equally applicable to any, the most 
shocking occasions. But indeed it is so contrary to the plain- 
est principles of common reason, that I can hardly persuade 
myself, that any one could seriously and thoroughly believe 
it ; and should imagine my time very ill employed here, if I 
were to set myself to combat those pretences to argument, 
by which the wantonness of human wit has attempted to var- 
nish it over. 

11. You see then, on the whole, the vanity of all your 
pleas, and how easily the most plausible of them might be 
silenced by a mortal man like yourself: how much more then 
by Him, who searches all hearts, and can, in a moment, flash 
in upon the conscience a most powerful and irresistible con- 
viction 1 What then can you do, while you stand convicted 
in the presence of God % What should you do, but hold your 
peace under an inward sense of your inexcusable guilt, and 
prepare yourself to hear the sentence Avhich his law pro- 
nounces against you 1 You must feel the execution of it, 
if the Gospel does not at length deliver you ; and you must 
feel something of the terror of it, before you can be excited 
to seek to that Gospel for deliverance. 



52 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

The Meditation of a convinced Sinner, giving up his 
vain pleas before God. 

(i Deplorable condition to which I am indeed reduced ! I 
have sinned, and i what shall I say unto thee, O thou Preserv- 
er of men V Job, vii. 20. What shall I dare to say'? Fool 
that I was, to amuse myself with such trifling excuses as 
these, and to imagine they could have any weight in thy tre- 
mendous presence, or that I should be able so much as to 
mention them there. I cannot presume to do it. I am silent 
and confounded : my hopes, alas ! are slain, and my soul itself 
is ready to die too, so far as an immortal soul can die ; 
and I am almost ready to say, O that it could die entirely ! 
I am indeed a criminal in the hands of justice, quite disarmed, 
and stripped of the weapons in which I trusted. Dissimula- 
tion can only add provocation to provocation. I will there- 
fore plainly and freely own it. I have acted as if I thought 
God was i altogether such a one as myself:' but he hath said, 
8 I will reprove thee ; I will set thy sins in order before thine 
eyes :' (Psal. 1. 21.) will marshal them in battle array. And, 
oh ! what a terrible kind of host do they appear 1 and how 
do they surround me beyond any possibility of an escape ! 
O my soul ! they have, as it were, taken thee prisoner, and 
they are bearing thee away to the divine tribunal. 

" Thou must appear before it ! thou must see the awful, 
the eternal Judge, who ' tries the very reins,' (Jer. xvii. 10.) 
and who needs no other evidence, for he has 8 himself been 
witness to all thy rebellion. 5 Jer. xxix. 23. Thou must see 
him, O my soul! sitting in judgment upon thee; and when 
he is strict to e mark iniquity,' (Psal. cxxx. 3.) how wilt thou 
( answer him for one of a thousand !' Job, ix. 3. And if thou 
canst not answer him, in what language will he speak to thee ! 
Lord, as things at present stand, I can expect no other lan- 
guage than that of condemnation. And what a condemna- 
tion is it ! Let me reflect upon it ! Let me read my sentence 
before I hear it finally and irreversibly passed. I know he 
has recorded it in his word, and I know, in the general, that 
the representation is made with a gracious design. I know 
that he would have us alarmed, that we may not be destroyed. 
Speak to me, therefore, O God! while thou speak est not for 
the last time, and in circumstances when thou wilt hear me 
no more. Speak in the language of effectual terror, so that 
it be not to speak me into final despair. And let thy word, 
however painful in its operation, be ' quick and powerful, and 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 53 

sharper than any two-edged sword.' Heb. iv. 12. Let me 
not vainly flatter myself, let me not be left a wretched prey 
to those who would ' prophesy smooth things to me,' (Isai. 
xxx. 10.) till I am sealed up under wrath, and feel thy justice 
piercing my soul, and ' the poison of thine arrows drinking 
up all my spirits.' Job,-vi. 4. 

" Before I enter upon the particular view, I know, in the 
general, that c it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
living God.' Heb. x. 31. O thou living God ! in one sense 
I am already fallen into thine hands. I am become obnoxious 
to thy displeasure, justly obnoxious to it; and whatever thy 
sentence may be, when it comes forth from thy presence, 
(Psal. xvii. 2.) I must condemn myself, and justify thee. Thou 
canst not treat me with more severity than mine iniquities 
have deserved; and how bitter soever that cup of trembling 
may be, (Isai. li. 17.) which thou shalt appoint for me, I 
give judgment against myself, that I deserve ( to wring out 
the very dregs of it.' " Psal. lxxv. 8. 






CHAPTER VI. 

THE SINNER SENTENCED. 

. 2. The sinner called upon to hear his sentence. — 3. God's law 
does now in general pronounce a curse. — 4. It pronounces 
death. — 5. And being turned into hell. — 6. The judgment-day 
shall come. — 7. 8. The solemnity of that grand process de- 
scribed according to scriptural representations of it. — 9. With 
a particular illustration of the sentence, "Depart accursed, ?' 
&c. — 10. The execution will certainly and immediately fol- 
low. — 11. The sinner warned to prepare for enduring it. The 
reflection of a sinner struck with the terror of his sentence. 

1. Hear, O sinner ! and I will speak, (Job, xlii. 4.) yet 
once more, as in the name of God, of God thine Almighty 
Judge, who, if thou dost not attend to his servants, will, ere 
long, speak unto thee in a more immediate manner, with an 
energy and terror which thou shalt not be able to resist. 

2. Thou hast been convicted, as in his presence. Thy pleas 
have been overruled, or rather, they have been silenced. It 
appears before God, it appears to thine own conscience, that 
thou hast nothing more to offer in arrest of judgment ; there- 
fore hear thy sentence, and summon up, if thou canst, all the 
powers of thy soul to bear the execution of it. " It is," in- 



54 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

deed, " a very small thing to be judged of man's judgment ; M 
but iS he who now judgeth thee is the Lord." 1 Cor. iv. 3, 4. 
Hear, therefore, and tremble, while I tell thee how He will 
speak to thee ; or rather, while I show thee, from express 
Scripture, how he doth even now speak, and what is the au- 
thentic and recorded sentence of his word, even of His word, 
who hath said, " Heaven and earth shall pass away ; but not 
one tittle of my word shall ever pass away." Matt. v. 18. 

3. The law of God speaks not to thee alone, O sinner ! 
nor to thee by any particular address ; but in a most univer- 
sal language, it speaks to all transgressors, and levels its ter- 
rors against all offences, great or small, without any exception. 
And this is its language : ts Cursed is every one that contin- 
ueth not in all things which are written in the book of the 
law to do them." Gal. iii. 10. This is its voice to the whole 
world ; and this it speaks to thee. Its awful contents are thy 
personal concern, O reader ! and thy conscience knows it. 
Far from continuing in all things that are written therein to 
do them, thou canst not but be sensible that " innumerable 
evils have encompassed thee about." Psalm xl. 12. It is 
then manifest, thou art the man whom it condemns : thou art 
even now " cursed with a curse," as God emphatically speaks, 
(Mai. iii. 9.) with the curse of the Most High God ; yea, " all 
the curses which are written in the book of the law" are 
pointed against thee. Duet. xxix. 20. God may righteously 
execute any of them upon thee in a moment ; and though 
thou at present feelest none of them, yet, if infinite mercy do 
not prevent, it is but a little while, aud they will ' ' come into thy 
bowels like water," till thou art burst asunder with them, 
and shall penetrate M like oil into thy bones." Psalm cix. 18. 

4. Thus saith the Lord, " The soul that sinneth, it shall 
die." Ezek. xviii. 4. But thou hast sinned, and therefore 
thou art under a sentence of death. And, O unhappy crea- 
ture, of what a death ! What will the end of these things 
be 1 That the agonies of dissolving nature shall seize thee ; 
and thy soul shall be torn away from thy languishing body, 
and thou " return to the dust from whence thou wast taken." 
Psahn civ. 29. This is indeed one awful effect of sin. In 
these affecting characters has God, through all nations and 
all ages of men, written the awful register and memorial of 
his holy abhorrence of it, and righteous displeasure against 
it. But, alas ! all this solemn pomp and horror of dying is 
but the opening of the dreadful scene. It is a rough kind of 
stroke, by which the fetters are knocked off, when the crimi- 
nal is led out to torture and execution. 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 55 

5. Thus saith the Lord, " The wicked shall be turned into 
hell, even all the nations that forget God," Psalm ix. 17. 
Though there be whole nations of them, their multitudes and 
their power shall be no defence to them. They shall be driv- 
en into hell together : into that flaming prison which divine 
vengeance hath prepared : into " Tophet, which is ordained of 
old, even for royal sinners," as well as for others ', so little 
can any human distinction protect ! " He hath made it deep 
and large : the pile thereof is fire and much wood ; the breath 
of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, shall kindle it;" 
(Isai. xxx. 33.) and the flaming torrent shall flow in upon it 
so fast, that it shall be turned into a sea of liquid fire ; or, 
as the Scripture also expresses it, " a lake burning with fire 
and brimstone" forever. Rev. xxi. 8. " This is the second 
death ;" and the death to which thou, O sinner ! by the word 
of God art doomed. 

6. And shall this sentence stand upon record in vain 1 Shall 
the law speak it 1 and the Gospel speak it 1 And shall it 
never be pronounced more audibly 1 And will God never re- 
quire and execute the punishment'? He will, O sinner ! re- 
quire it, and he will execute it, though he may seem for a 
while to delay. For well dost thou know, that " he hath 
appointed a day in which he will judge the" whole " world 
in righteousness, by that Man whom he hath ordained, of 
which he hath given assurance in having raised him from the 
dead." Acts, xvii. 31. And when God judgeth the world, 

reader ! whoever thou art, he will judge thee. And while 

1 remind thee of it, I would also remember that he will judge 
me. And " knowing the terror of the Lord," (2 Cor. v. 11.) 
that I may "deliver my own soul," (Ezek. xxxiii. 9.) I 
would, with all plainness and sincerity, labor to deliver thine. 

7. I therefore repeat the solemn warning : Thou, O sinner ! 
shalt "stand before the judgment-seat of Christ." 2 Cor. v. 
10. Thou shalt see that pompous appearance, the description 
of which is grown so familiar to thee, that the repetition of 
it makes no impression on thy mind. But surely, stupid as 
thou now art, the shrill trumpet of the arch-angel shall shake 
thy very soul ; and if nothing else can awaken and alarm thee, 
the convulsions and flames of a dissolving world shall do it. 

8. Dost thou really think, that the intent of Christ's final 
appearance is only to recover his people from the grave, and 
to raise them to glory and happiness 1 Whatever assurance 
thou hast that there shall be " a resurrection of the just," thou 
hast the same, that there shall also be " a resurrection of the 



56 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

unjust :" (Acts, xxiv. 15.) that " he shall separate" the ris- 
ing dead " one from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep 
from the goats," (Matt. xxv. 32.) with equal certainty, and 
with infinitely greater ease. Or can you imagine, that he 
will only make an example of some flagrant and notorious 
sinners, when it is said, that " all the dead," both " small and 
great," shall " stand before God;" (Rev. xx. 12.) and that 
even " he who knew not his Master's will," and consequently 
seems of all others to have had the fairest excuse for his omis- 
sion to obey it, yet even " he," for that very omission, " shall 
be beaten," though " with fewer stripes V 3 Luke, xii. 48. 
Or can you think that a sentence, to be delivered with so 
much pomp and majesty, a sentence by which the righteous 
judgment of God is to be revealed, and to have its most con- 
spicuous and final triumph, will be inconsiderable, or the pun^ 
ishment to which it shall consign the sinner be slight or tol- 
erable ? There would have been little reason to apprehend 
that, even if we had been left barely to our own conjectures 
what that sentence should be. But this is far from being the 
case : our Lord Jesus Christ, in his infinite condescension and 
compassion, has been pleased to give us a copy of the sen- 
tence, and no doubt a most exact copy ; and the words which 
contain it are worthy of being inscribed on every heart. 
" The King," amidst all the splendor and dignity in which 
he shall then appear, " shall say unto those on his right hand, 
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
for you from the foundation of the world!" Matt. xxv. 34. 
And " where the word of a king is, there is power" indeed. 
Eccles. viii. 4. And these words have a power, which may 
justly animate the heart of the humble Christian under the 
most overwhelming sorrow, and may fill him " with joy un- 
speakable, and full of glory." 1 Pet. i. S. To be pronounced 
the blessed of the Lord ! to be called to a kingdom ! to the 
immediate, the everlasting inheritance of it; and of such a 
kingdom ! so well prepared, so glorious, so complete, so ex- 
quisitely fitted for the delight and entertainment of such crea- 
tures, so formed and so renewed, that it shall appear worthy 
the eternal counsels of God to have contrived it, worthy his 
eternal love to have prepared it, and to have delighted himself 
with the views of bestowing it upon his people : behold a 
blessed hope indeed ! a lively, glorious hope, to which we are 
" begotten again by the resurrection of Christ from the dead," 
(1 Pet. i. 3.) and formed by the sanctifying influence of the 
Spirit of God upon our minds. But it is a hope from which 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 57 

thou, O sinner ! art at present excluded ; and methinks that 
it might be grievous to reflect : " These gracious words shall 
Christ speak to some ; to multitudes ; but not to me : on me 
there is no blessedness pronounced; for me there is no king- 
dom prepared." But is that an"? Alas! sinner, our Lord 
hath given thee a dreadful counterpart to, this. He has told 
us what he will say to thee, if thou continuest what thou art : 
to thee, and all the nations of the impenitent and unbelieving 
world, be they ever so numerous, be the rank of particular 
criminals ever so great. He shall say to the " kings of the 
earth," who have been rebels against him, to " the great and 
rich men, and the chief captains and the mighty men," as 
well as to "every bondman and every freeman" of inferior 
rank, (Rev. vi. 15.) " Depart from me, ye cursed, into ev- 
erlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matt. 
xxv. 41. Oh ! pause upon these weighty words, that thou 
mayest enter into something of the importance of them. 

9. He will say, " Depart :" you shall be driven from his 
presence with disgrace and infamy : " from him," the source 
of life and blessedness, in a nearness to whom all the inhab- 
itants of heaven continually rejoice ; you shall " depart," 
accursed : you have broken God's law, and its curse falls upon 
you ; and you are and shall be under that curse, that abiding 
curse : from that day forward you shall be regarded by God, 
and all his creatures, as an accursed and abominable thing, 
as the most detestable, and the most miserable part of the 
creation. You shall go " into fire ;" and, oh ! consider into 
what fire ! Is it merely into one fierce blaze which shall 
consume you in a moment, though with exquisite pain 1 That 
were terrible. But, oh! such terrors are not to be named 
with these. Thine, sinner, " is everlasting fire." It is that 
which our Lord hath, in luch awful terms, described as pre- 
vailing there, " where their worm dieth not, and the fire is 
not quenched;" and then says a second time, " where their 
worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched;" and again, 
in wonderful compassion, a third time, " where their worm 
dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Mark, ix. 44, 46, 
48. Nor was it originally prepared, or principally intended 
for you: it was " prepared for the devil and his angels :" for 
those first grand rebels, who were immediately upon their fall 
doomed to it ; and since you have taken part with them in 
their apostacy, you must sink with them into that flaming 
ruin ; and sink so much the deeper, as you have despised the 
Savior, who was never offered to them. These must be your 

6 



58 rise a:nd progress of 

companions, and your tormentors, with whom you must dwell 
forever. And is it I that say this \ or says not the law and 
the Gospel the same 1 Does not the Lord Jesus Christ ex- 
pressly say, who is the (i faithful and true witness," (Rev. iii. 
14.) even he who himself is to pronounce the sentence! 

10. And when it is thus pronounced, and pronounced by 
him, shall it not also be executed ? Who could imagine the 
contrary! Who could imagine there should be all this pom- 
pous declaration to fill the mind only with vain terror, and 
that this sentence should vanish into smoke 1 You may easily 
apprehend that this would be a greater reproach to the Di- 
vine administration, than if sentence were never to be passed. 
And therefore we might easily have inferred the execution of 
it, from the process of the preceding judgment. But lest the 
treacherous heart of a sinner should deceive him with so vain 
a hope, the assurance of that execution is immediately added 
in very memorable terms. It shall be done : it shall iminedi- 
atelv be done. Then, on that very day, while the sound of 
it is yet in their ears, " the wicked shall go away into ever- 
lasting punishment ;" (Matt. xxv. 46.) and thou, O reader ! 
whoever thou art, being found in their number, shaltgo away 
with them ; shalt be driven on among all these wretched mul- 
titudes, and plunged with them into eternal ruin. The wide 
gates of hell shall be open to receive thee ; they shall be shut 
upon thee forever, to enclose thee, and be fast barred, by the 
Almighty hand of divine justice, to prevent all hope, all pos- 
sibility of escape forever. 

11. And now, " prepare" thyself " to meet the Lord thy 
God." Amos, iv. 12. Summon up all the resolution of thy 
mind to endure such a sentence, such an execution as this; 
for "he will not meet thee as a man;" (Isai. xlvii. 30.) 
whose heart may sometimes fail him when about to exert a 
needful act of severity, so that compassion may prevail against 
reason and justice. No, he will meet thee as a God, whose 
schemes ami purposes are all immovable as his throne. I 
therefore testify to thee in his name this day, that if God be 
true, he will thus speak; and that if he be able, he will thus 
act. And on supposition of thy continuance in thine impen- 
itence and unbelief, thou art brought into this miserable case, 
that if God be not either false or weak, thou art undone, 
thou art eternally undone. 



RELIGION Ilf THE SOUL. 59 

The Reflection of a Sinner, struck with the terror of 
his Sentence. 

" Wretch that I am ! What shall I do, or whither shall 
I flee 1 i I am weighed in the balance, and am found want- 
ing. 5 Dan. v. 27. This is indeed my doom ; the doom I am 
to expect from the mouth of Christ himself, from the mouth 
of him that died for the redemption and salvation of men. 
Dreadful sentence ! and so much the more dreadful, when 
considered in that view ! To what shall I look to save me 
from it 1 To whom shall I call 1 Shall I say ' to the rocks, 
Fall upon me, and to the hills, Cover me V Luke, xxiii. 30. 
What should I gain by that 1 Were I indeed overwhelmed 
with rocks and mountains, they could not conceal me from 
the notice of his eye ; and his hand could reach me with as 
much ease there as any where else. 

" Wretch indeed that I am ! O that I had never been 
born ! O that I had never known the dignity and preroga- 
tive of the rational nature ! Fatal prerogative indeed, that 
renders me obnoxious to condemnation and wrath ! O that 
I had never been instructed in the will of God at all, rather 
than that, being thus instructed, I should have disregarded and 
transgressed it ! Would to God I had been allied to the mean- 
est of the human race, to them that come nearest to the state 
of the brutes, rather than that I should have had my lot in 
cultivated life, amidst so many of the improvements of reason, 
and (dreadful reflection!) amidst so many of the advantages 
of religion too ! and thus to have perverted all to my own 
destruction ! O that God would take away this rational soul ! 
but, alas ! it will live forever, will live to feel the agonies 
of eternal death. Why have I seen the beauties and glories 
of a world like this, to exchange it for that flaming prison ! 
Why have I tasted so many of my Creator's bounties, to 
wring out at last the dregs of his wrath ! Why have I known 
the delights of social life and friendly converse, to exchange 
them for the horrid company of devils, and damned spirits in 
hell ! Oh ! s who can dwell' with them in ' devouring flames 1 
who can lie down' with them i in everlasting, everlasting, ev- 
erlasting burnings V Isa. xxxiii. 14. 

" But whom have I to blame in all this but myself ] What 
have I to accuse but my own stupid incorrigible folly 1 On 
what is all this terrible ruin to be charged, but on this one 
fatal, cursed cause, that, having broken God's law r , I rejected 
his Gospel too % 



60 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

" Yet stay, O my soul, in the midst of all these doleful 
foreboding complaints. Can I say that I have finally rejected 
the Gospel 1 Am I not to this day under the sound of it 1 
The sentence is not yet gone forth against me, in so determi- 
nate a manner as to be utterly irreversible. Through all this 
gloomy prospect, one ray of hope breaks in, and it is possible 
I may yet be delivered. 

" Reviving thought ! Rejoice in it, O my soul ! though it 
be with trembling, and turn immediately to that God, who, 
though provoked by ten thousand offences, has not yet c sworn 
in his wrath that thou shalt never' be permitted to hold fur- 
ther intercourse with him, or to c enter into his rest.' Psalm 
xcv. 11. 

" 1 do then, O blessed Lord ! prostrate myself in the dust 
before thee. I own I am a condemned and miserable crea- 
ture. But my language is that of the humble publican, l God 
be merciful to me a sinner !' Luke, xviii. 13. Some general 
and confused apprehensions I have of a way by which I may 
possibly escape. O God, whatever that way is, show it me, 
I beseech thee ! Point it out so plainly, that I may not be 
able to mistake it ! And oh ! reconcile my heart to it, be it 
ever so humbling, be it ever so painful ! 

"Surely, Lord, I have much to learn; but be thou my 
teacher ! Stay for a little moment thine uplifted hand ; and 
in thine infinite compassion delay the stroke, till I inquire a 
little further how I may finally avoid it !" 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE HELPLESS STATE OF THE SINNER UNDER 
CONDEMNATION. 

1, 2. The sinner urged to consider how he can be saved from 
this impending ruin. — 3. Not by any thing he can offer. — 4. 
Nor by any thing he can endure. — 5. Nor by anything he can 
do in the course of future duty. — 6 — 8. Nor by any alliance 
with fellow-sinners on earth or in hell. — 9. Nor by any inter- 
position or intercession of angels or saints in his favor. Hint 
of the only method, to be afterwards more largely explained. 
The lamentation of a sinner in this miserable condition. 

1. Sinner, thou hast heard the sentence of God, as it 
stands upon record in his sacred and immutable word. And 
wilt thou lie down under it in everlasting despair 1 Wilt thou 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 61 

make no attempt to be delivered from it, when it speaks noth- 
ing less than eternal death to thy souH If a criminal, con- 
demned by human laws, has but the least shadow of hope that 
he may possibly escape, he is all attention to it. If there be 
a friend, who he thinks can help him, with what strong im- 
portunity does he entreat the interposition of that friend 1 
And even while he is before the judge, how difficult is it often 
to force him away from the bar, while the cry of mercy, mer- 
cy, mercy, may be heard, though it be never so unseasonable 1 
A mere possibility that it may make some impression, makes 
him eager in it, and unwilling to be silenced and removed. 

2. Wilt thou not then, O sinner ! ere yet execution is done 3 
that execution which may perhaps be done this very day, wilt 
thou not cast about in thy thoughts what measures may be 
taken for deliverance 1 Yet what measures can be taken 1 
Consider attentively, for it is an affair of moment. Thy wis- 
dom, thy power, thy eloquence, thy interest, can never be 
exerted on a greater occasion. If thou canst help thyself, do 
it. If thou hast any secret source of relief, go not out of thy- 
self for other assistance. If thou hast any sacrifice to offer, 
if thou hast any strength to exert ; yea, if thou hast any allies 
on earth, or in the invisible world, who can defend or deliver 
thee, take thy own way, so that thou mayest but be delivered 
at all, that we may not see thy ruin. But say, O sinner ! in 
the presence of God, what sacrifice thou wilt present, what 
strength thou wilt exert, what allies thou wilt have recourse 
to, on so urgent, so hopeless an occasion. For hopeless I 
must indeed pronounce it, if such methods are taken. 

3. The justice of God is injured : hast thou any atonement 
to make to it 1 If thou wast brought to an inquiry and pro- 
posal, like that of an awakened sinner, " Wherewith shall I 
come before the Lord, and bow before the high God 1 Shall 
I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year 
old 1 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or 
with ten thousands of rivers of oil 1" Mic. vi. 6, 7. Alas ! 
wert thou as great a prince as Solomon himself, and couldst 
thou indeed purchase such sacrifices as these, there would' be 
no room to mention them. " Lebanon would not be sufficient 
to burn, nor all the beasts thereof for a burnt-offering. 5 ' Isai. 
xl. 16. Even under that dispensation, which admitted and 
required sacrifices in some cases, the blood of bulls and of 
goats, though it exempted the offender from further temporal 
punishment, " could not take away sin," (Heb. x. 4.) nor 
prevail by any means, to purge the conscience in the sight of 



62 RISK AND PROGRESS OF 

God. And that soul, that had " done aught presumptuously," 
was not allowed to bring any sin-offering, or trespass-offering 
at all, but was condemned to "die without mercy." INumb. 
xv. 30. Now God and thine own conscience know, that 
thine offences have not been merely the errors of ignorance 
and inadvertency, but that thou hast sinned with a high hand 
in repeated aggravated instances, as thou hast acknowledged 
already. Shouldst thou add, with the wretched sinner de- 
scribed above, " Shall I give my first-born for my transgress- 
ion, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul 1" Mic. vl. 
7. What could the blood of a beloved child do in such a 
case, but dye thy crimes so much the deeper, and add a yet 
unknown horror to them 1 Thou hast offended a Being of 
infinite majesty ; and if that offence is to be expiated by blood, 
it must be another kind of blood than that which flows in the 
veins of thy children, or in thine own. 

4. Wilt thou then suffer thyself, till thou hast made full 
satisfaction q . But how shall that satisfaction be made 1 Shall 
it be by any calamities to be endured in this mortal, momen- 
tary life % Is the justice of God then esteemed so little a thing, 
that the sorrows of a few days should suffice to answer its 
demands 1 Or dost thou think of future sufferings in the in- 
visible world 1 If thou dost, that is not deliverance ; and 
with regard to that, I may venture to say, when thou hast 
made full satisfaction, thou wilt be released. When thou hast 
paid the uttermost farthing of that debt, thy prison-doors shall 
be opened; but in the mean time, thou must ki make thy bed 
in hell:" (Psalm cxxxix. S.) and, oh! unhappy man, wilt 
thou lie down there with a secret hope, that the moment will 
come when the rigor of Divine justice will not be able to in- 
flict any thing more than thou hast endured, and when thou 
mayest claim thy discharge as a matter of right 1 It would 
indeed be well for thee if thou couldst carry down with thee 
such a hope, false and flattering as it is ; but, alas ! thou wilt 
see things in so just a light, that to have no comfort but this 
will be eternal despair. That one word of thy sentence, 
" everlasting fire:" that one declaration, "the worm dieth 
not, and the fire is not quenched ;" will be sufficient to strike 
such a thought into black confusion, and to overwhelm thee 
with hopeless agony and horror. 

5. Or do you think that your future reformation and dili- 
gence in duty for the time to come, will procure your dis- 
charge from this sentence'? Take heed, sinner, what kind 
of obedience thou thinkest of offering to a holy God. That 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 63 

must be spotless and complete which his infinite sanctity can 
approve and accept, if he consider thee in thyself alone : 
there must be no inconstancy, no forgetfulness, no mixture of 
sin attending it. And wilt thou, enfeebled as thou art by so 
much original corruption, and so many sinful habits contracted 
by innumerable actual transgressions, undertake to render 
such an obedience, and that for all the remainder of thy life 1 
In vain wouldst thou attempt it, even for one day. New 
guilt would immediately plunge thee into new ruin. But if 
it did not, if from this moment to the very end of thy life all 
were as complete obedience as the law of God required from 
Adam in Paradise, would that be sufficient to cancel past 
guilt 1 Would it discharge an old debt, that thou hast not 
contracted a new one 1 Offer this to thy neighbor, and see 
if he will accept it for payment; and if he will not, wilt thou 
presume to offer it to thy God! 

6. But I will not multiply words on so plain a subject. 
While I speak thus, time is passing away, death presses on, 
and judgment is approaching. And what can save thee from 
these awful scenes, or Avhat can protect thee in them ! Can 
the world save thee 1 that vain delusive idol of thy wishes and 
pursuits, to which thou art sacrificing thine eternal hopes 1 
Well dost thou know, that it will utterly forsake thee when 
thou needest it most ; and that not one of its enjoyments cari, 
be carried along with thee into the invisible state ; no, not so 
much as a trifle, to remember it by, if thou couldst desire to 
remember so inconstant and so treacherous a friend as the 
world has been. 

7. And when you are dead, or when you are dying, can 
your sinful companions save you 1 Is there any one of them, 
if he were ever so desirous of doing it, that " can give unto 
God a ransom for you," (Psalm xlix. 7.) to deliver you from 
going down to the grave, or from going down to hell 1 Alas, 
you will probably be so sensible of this, that, when you lie 
on the borders of the grave, you will be unwilling to see, or 
to converse with, those that were once your favorite compan- 
ions. They will afflict you rather than relieve you, even then : 
how much less can they relieve you before the bar of God, 
when they are overwhelmed with their own condemnation. 

8. As for the powers of darkness, you are sure they will 
be far from having any ability or inclination to help you. Sa- 
tan has been watching and laboring for your destruction, and 
he will triumph in it. But if there could be any thing of an 
amicable confederacy between you, what would that be but 



64 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

an association in ruin *? For the day of judgment of ungodly 
men, will also be the judgment of these rebellious spirits ; and 
the fire into which thou, O sinner, must depart, is that which 
was " prepared for the devil and his angels." Matt. xxv. 41. 
9. Will the celestial spirits then save thee 1 Will they in- 
terpose their power, or their prayers, in thy favor 1 An in- 
terposition of power, when sentence is gone forth against thee, 
were an act of rebellion against heaven, which these holy 
and excellent creatures would abhor. And when the final 
pleasure of the Judge is known, instead of interceding in 
vain for the wretched criminal, they would rather, with ar- 
dent zeal for the glory of their Lord, and cordial acquiescence 
in the determination of his wisdom and justice, prepare to 
execute it. Yea, difficult as it may at present be to conceive 
it, it is a certain truth, that the servants of Christ, who now 
most tenderly love you, and most affectionately seek your sal- 
vation, not excepting those who are allied to you in the near- 
est bonds of nature or of friendship, even they shall put their 
Amen to it. Now indeed their bowels yearn over you, and 
their eyes pour out tears on your account. Now they expos- 
tulate with you, and plead with God for you, if by any means, 
while yet there is hope, you may " be plucked as a firebrand 
out of the burning." Amos, iv. 11. But, alas! their remon- 
strances you will not regard ; and as for their prayers, what 
should they ask for you 1 What but that you may see your- 
self to be undone; and that, utterly despairing of any help 
from yourself, or from any created power, you may lie before 
God in humility and brokenness of heart; that, submitting 
yourself to his righteous judgment, and in an utter renuncia- 
tion of all self-dependence and of all creature dependence, 
you may lift up an humble look towards him, as almost from 
the depths of hell, if peradventure he may have compassion 
upon you, and may himself direct you to that only method of 
rescue, which, while things continue as in present circumstan- 
ces they are, neither earth, nor hell, nor heaven, can afford 
you. 

The Lamentation of a Sinner in this miserable 
Condition. 
" Oh ! doleful, uncomfortable, helpless state ! O wretch 
that I am, to have reduced myself to it ! Poor, empty, mis- 
erable, abandoned creature! Where is my pride, and the 
haughtiness of my heart '"? Where are my idol deities, { whom 
i have loved and served, after whom I have walked, and 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 65 

whom I have sought,' (Jer. viii. 2.) while I have been mul- 
tiplying my transgressions against the majesty of heaven 1 
Is there no heart to have compassion upon me 1 Is there no 
hand to save me 1 < Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, 
O my friends, for the hand of God hath touched me : a (Job, 
xix. 21.) hath seized me ! I feel it pressed upon me hard, 
and what shall I do 1 Perhaps they have pity upon me, but, 
alas ! how feeble a compassion ! only, if there be anywhere 
in the whole compass of nature any help, tell me where it 
may be found ! O point it out, direct me toward it ; or rath- 
er, confounded and astonished as my mind is, take me by the 
hand, and lead me to it ! 

" O ye ministers of the Lord, whose office it is to guide • 
and comfort distressed souls, take pity upou me ! I fear I 
am a pattern of many other helpless creatures, who have the 
like need of your assistance. Lay aside your other cares, to 
care for my soul, to care for this precious soul of mine, which 
lies as it were bleeding to death, (if that expression may be 
used), while you perhaps hardly afford me a look, or, glanc- 
ing an eye upon me, ( pass over to the other side.' Luke, x. 
32. Yet, alas ! in a case like mine, what can your interpo- 
sition avail if it be alone : i If the Lord do not help me, how 
can you help me 1' 2 Kings, vi. 27. 

" s O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh,' (Numb. xvi. 
22.) I lift up mine eyes unto thee, and i cry unto thee, as out 
of the belly of hell.' Jonah, ii. 2. I cry unto thee, at least 
from the borders of it. Yet, while I lie before thee in this 
infinite distress, I know that thine Almighty power and bound- 
less grace can still find out a way for my recovery. 

" Thou art he, whom I have most of all injured and af- 
fronted ; and yet from thee alone must I now seek redress. 
c Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done evil in thy 
sight;' so that e thou mightest be justified when thou speak- 
est, and be clear when thou judgest,' (Psalm li. 4.) though 
thou shouldst at this moment adjudge me to eternal misery. 
And yet I find something that secretly draws me to thee, as 
if I might find rescue there, where I have deserved the most 
aggravated destruction. Blessed God, I ( have destroyed my- 
self; but in thee is my help,' (Hos. xiii. 9.) if there can be 
help at all. 

" I know, in the general, that ' thy ways are not as our 
ways, nor thy thoughts as our thoughts;' but are as 'high 
above them, as the heavens are above the earth,' Isai. lv. 8, 
9. f Have mercy,' therefore, * upon me, O God, according 



66 RISE A>~D PROGRESS OF 

to thy loving-kindness, according to the multitude of thy ten- 
der mercies ! ; Psalm li. 1. O point out the path to the citv 
of refuge ! O i lead me' thyself, ' in the way everlasting !' 
Psalm cxxxix. 24. I know, in the general, that thy Gospel 
is the only remedy : O teach thy servants to administer it ! 
O prepare my heart to receive it ! and suffer not, as in mam- 
instances, that malignity, which has spread itself through all 
my nature, to turn that noble medicine into poison !" 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ITETTS OF SALTATION BY CHRIST BROUGHT TO 
CONVINCED AND CONDEMNED SINNER. 

1, The awful things which have hitherto been said, intended not 
to grieve, but to help. — '2. After some reflection on the pleas- 
ure with which a minister of the Gospel may deliver the mes- 
sage with which he is charged. — 3. And some reasons for the 
repetition of what is in speculation so generally known. — 4 — 6. 
The author proceeds briefly to declare the substance of these 
glad tidings : viz. that God, having in his infinite compassion 
sent his Son to die for sinners, is now reconcileable through 
him. — 7, 8. So that the most heinous transgressions shall be en- 
tirely pardoned to believers, and they made completely and 
eternally happy. The sinner's reflection on this good news. 

1. My dear reader, it is the ^reat design of the Gospel, 
and wherever it is cordially received, it is the glorious effect 
of it, to fill the heart witli sentiments of love; to teach us to 
abhor all unnecessary rigor and severity, and to delight not 
in the grief, but in the happiness of our fellow creatures. I 
can hardly apprehend how he can be a Christian, who takes 
pleasure in the distress which appears even in a brute, much 
less in that of a human mind; and especially in such distress 
as the thoughts I have been proposing must give, if there be 
any due attention to their weight and energy. I have often 
felt a tender regret, while I have been representing these 
things: and I could have wished from my heart, that it had 
not been necessarv to have placed them in so severe and so 
painful a light. But now I am addressing myself to a part 
of my work, which I undertake with unutterable pleasure; 
and to that, which indeed I had in view, in all those awful 
things which I have already been laying before you. I have 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 67 

been showing you, that, if you hitherto have lived in a state 
of impenitence and sin, you are condemned by God's right- 
eous judgment, and have in yourself no spring of hope, and 
no possibility of deliverance. But I mean not to leave you 
under this sad apprehension, to lie down and die in despair, 
complaining of that cruel zeal which has " tormented you 
before your time." Matt. viii. 29. 

2. Arise, O thou dejected soul, that art prostrate in the 
dust before God, and trembling under the terror of his right- 
eous sentence ; for I am commissioned to tell thee, that, 
though " thou hast destroyed thyself, in God is thine help." 
Hos. xiii. 9. I bring thee "good tidings of great joy," 
(Luke, ii. 10.) which delight mine own heart, Avhile I pro- 
claim them, and will, I hope, reach and revive thine; even 
the tidings of salvation by the blood and righteousness of the' 
Redeemer. And I give it thee for thy greater security, in 
the words of a gracious and forgiving God, that "he is in 
Christ reconciling the world unto himself, and not imputing 
to them their trespasses." 2 Cor. v. 19. 

3. This is the best news that ever was heard, the most 
important message which God ever sent to his creatures; and 
though I doubt not, that, living as you have done in a Christ- 
ian country, you have heard it often, perhaps a thousand and 
a thousand times ; I will, with all simplicity and plainness, 
repeat it to you again, and repeat it as if you had never heard 
it before. If thou, O sinner, shouldst now for the first time 
feel it, then will it be as a new Gospel unto thee, though so 
familiar to thine ear; nor shall it be "grievous to me" to 
speak what is so common, " since to you it is safe" and ne- 
cessary. Phil. iii. 1. They who are most deeply and inti- 
mately acquainted with it, instead of being cloyed and sa- 
tiated, will hear it with distinguished pleasure ; and as for 
those who have hitherto slighted it, I am sure they had need 
to hear it again. Nor is it absolutely impossible, that some 
one soul at least may read these lines, who hath never been 
clearly and fully instructed in this important doctrine, though 
his everlasting all depends on knowing and receiving it. I 
will therefore take care, that such a one shall not have it to 
plead at the bar of God, that, though he lived in a Christian 
country, he was never plainly and faithfully taught the doc- 
trine of salvation by Jesus Christ, " the way, the truth, and 
the life, by whom alone w 7 e come unto the Father." John, 
xiy. 6. 

4. I do therefore testify unto you this day, that the holy 



68 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

and gracious Majesty of heaven and earth, foreseeing the fa- 
tal apostacy into which the whole human race would fall, did 
not determine to deal in a way of strict and rigorous sever- 
ity with us, so as to consign us over to universal ruin and in- 
evitable damnation; but, on the contrary, he determined to 
enter into a treaty of peace and reconciliation, and to pub- 
lish to all whom the Gospel should reach, the express offers 
of life and glory, in a certain method, which his infinite wis- 
dom judged suitable to the purity of his natnre, and the hon- 
or of his government. This method was indeed a most as- 
tonishing one, which, familiar as it is to our thoughts and 
our tongues, I cannot recollect and mention without great 
amazement. He determined to send his own Son into the 
world, ** the brightness of his glory, and the express image 
of his person," (Heb. i. 3,) partaker of his own divine per- 
fections and honors, to be, not merely a teacher of right- 
eousness and a messenger of grace, but also a sacrifice for 
the sins of men ; and would consent to his saving them on 
no other condition but this, that he should not only labor, 
but die in the cause. 

5. Accordingly, at such a period of time as infinite wisdom 
saw most convenient, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in hu- 
man flesh ; and after he had gone through incessant and long- 
continued fatigues, and borne all the preceding injuries, which 
the ingratitude and malice of men could inflict, he voluntarily 
" submitted himself to death, even the death of the cross;" 
(Phil. ii. 8.) and having been " delivered for our offences, 
was raised again for our justification." Rom. iv. 25. After 
his resurrection, he continued long enough on earth to give 
his followers most convincing evidences of it, and then " as- 
cended into heaven in their sight;" (Acts, i. 9 — 11.) and 
sent down his Spirit from thence unto his apostles, to enable 
them, in the most persuasive and authoritative manner, " to 
preach the Gospel;" and he has given it in charge to them, 
and to those who in every age succeed them in this part of 
their office, that it should be published " to every creature," 
(Mark, xvi. 15.) that all who believe in it may be saved by 
virtue of its abiding energy, and the immutable power and 
grace of its divine Author,* who is " the same yesterday, to- 
day, and forever." Heb. xiii. 8. 

6. This Gospel do I therefore now preach and proclaim 
unto thee, O reader, with the sincerest desire, that through 
divine grace it may " this very day be salvation to thy soul." 
Luke, xix. 9. Know therefore and consider it, whoioevejr 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 69 

thou art, that as surely as these words are now before thine 
eyes, so sure it is, that the incarnate Son of God was " made 
a spectacle to the world, and to angels and to men :" (1 Cor. 
iv. 9.) his back torn with scourges, his head with thorns, his 
limbs stretched out as on a rack, and nailed to- the accursed 
tree ; and, in this miserable condition, he was hung by his 
hands and his feet, as an object of public infamy and con- 
tempt. Thus did he die, in the midst of all the taunts and 
insults of his cruel enemies, who thirsted for his blood; and, 
which was the saddest circumstance of all, in the midst of 
those agonies with which he closed the most innocent, per- 
fect, and useful life that ever was spent on earth, he had not 
those supports of the divine presence which sinful men have 
often experienced, when they have been suffering for the tes- 
timony of their conscience. They have often burst out into 
transports of joy and songs of praise, while their execution- 
ers have been glutting their hellish malice, and more than 
savage barbarity, by making their torments artificially griev- 
ous ; but the crucified Jesus cried out, in the distress of his 
spotless and holy soul, " My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me V° Matt, xxvii. 46. 

7. Look upon your dear Redeemer ! look up to this mourn- 
ful, dreadful, yet in one view delightful spectacle! and then 
ask thine own heart, Do I believe that Jesus suffered and died 
thus! And why did he suffer and die! Let me answer in 
God's own words, " He was wounded for our transgressions, 
he was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our 
peace was upon him, that by his stripes we might be healed: 
it pleased the Lord to bruise him, and to put him to grief, 
when he made his soul an offering for sin ; for the Lord laid 
on him the iniquity of us all." Isai. liii. 5, 6, 10. So that 
I may address you in the words of the apostle, " Be it known 
unto you therefore, that through this man is preached unto 
you the forgiveness of sins;" (Acts, xiii. 38.) as it was his 
command, just after he arose from the dead, " that repent- 
ance and remission of sins should be preached in his name 
among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem," (Luke, xxiv. 
47.) the very place where his blood had so lately been shed 
in such a cruel manner. I do thereby testify to you, in the 
words of another inspired writer, that Christ was made sin, 
that is, a sin-offering, " for us, though he knew no sin, that 
we might be made the righteousness of God in him :" (2 Cor. 
t. 21.) that is, that, through the righteousness he has fulfilled, 
and the atonement he has made, we might be accepted by 



70 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

God as righteous, and be not only pardoned, but received into 
his favor. " To you is. the word of this salvation sent,'' 
(Acts, xiii. 26.) and to you, O reader, are the blessings of 
it even now offered by God, sincerely offered ; so that, after 
all that. I have said under the former heads, it is not your hav- 
ing broken the law of God that shall prove your ruin, if you 
do not also reject his Gospel. It is not all those legions of 
sins which rise up in battle array against you, that shall be 
able to destroy you, if unbelief do not lead them on, and final 
impenitency do not bring up the rear. I know that guilt is 
a timorous thing ; I will therefore speak in the words of God 
himself, nor can any be more comfortable : " He that believ- 
eth on the Son, hath everlasting life," (John, iii. 36.) " and 
he shall never come into condemnation." John, v. 24. 
" There is therefore now no condemnation," no kind or de- 
degree of it, " to them," to any one of them, " who are in 
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the 
spirit." Rom. viii. 1. You have indeed been a very great 
sinner, and your offences have truly been attended with most 
heinous aggravations ; nevertheless you may rejoice in the 
assurance, that " where sin hath abounded, there shall grace 
much more abound;" "that where sin hath reigned unto 
death," where it has had its most unlimited sway, and most 
unresisted triumph, there " shall righteousness reign to eter- 
nal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. v. 21. That 
righteousness, to which on believing on him thou wilt be en- 
titled, shall not only break those chains, by which sin is, as 
it were, dragging thee at its chariot wheels with a furious 
pace to eternal ruin; but it shall clothe thee with the robes 
of salvation, shall fix thee on a throne of glory, where thou 
sha.lt live and reign forever among the princes of heaven, 
shalt reign in immortal beauty and joy, without one remain- 
ing scar of divine displeasure upon thee, without any single 
mark by which it could be known that thou hadst ever been 
obnoxious to wrath and a curse, except it be an anthem of 
praise to " the Lamb that was slain, ami has washed thee 
from thy sins in his own blood." Rev. i. 5. 

S. Nor is it necessary, in order to thy being released from 
guilt, and entitled to this high and complete felicity, that thou 
shuuld^t, before thou wilt venture to apply to Jesus, bring 
any good works of thine own to recommend thee to his ac- 
ceptance. It is indeed true, that, if thy faith be sincere, it 
it will certainly produce them; but I have the authority of 
the word of God to tell thee, that if thou this day sincerely 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 71 

believest in the name of the Son of God, thou shalt this day 
be taken under his care, and be numbered among those of 
his sheep, to whom he hath graciously declared, that " he 
Avill give eternal life, and that they shall never perish." John, 
x. 28. Thou hast no need therefore to say, " Who shall go 
up into heaven, or who shall descend into the deep for me? 
For the word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart." 
Rom. x. 6, 7, 8. With this joyful message I leave thee : 
with this faithful saying, indeed " worthy of all acception :" 
(1 Tim. i. 15.) with this Gospel, O sinner, Avhich is my life; 
and which, if thou dost not reject, will be thine too. 

The Sinner's Reflection on this Good News- 
" O my soul, how astonishing is the message which thou 
hast this day received ! I have indeed often heard it before, 
and it is grown so common to me, that the surprise is not 
sensible. But reflect, O my soul, what it is thou hast heard; 
and say, whether the name of a Savior, whose message it is/ 
may not well be called ' Wonderful, Counsellor,' (Isai. ix, 
6.) when he displays before thee such wonders of love, and 
proposes to thee such counsels of peace ! 

" Blessed Jesus, is it indeed thus ? Is it not the fiction of 
the human mind \ Surely it is not ! What human mind 
could have invented or conceived it 1 It is a plain, a certain 
fact, that thou didst leave the magnificence and joy of the 
heavenly world in compassion to such a wretch as I ! Oh ! 
hadst thou, from that height of dignity and felicity, only look- 
ed down upon me for one moment, and sent some gracious 
word to me for my direction and comfort, even by the least 
of thy servants, justly might I have prostrated myself in grate- 
ful admiration, and have kissed ' the very footsteps' of him 
' that published the salvation.' Isai. lii. 7. But didst thou 
condescend to be thyself the messenger 1 What grace had 
that been, though thou hadst but once in person made the 
declaration, and immediately returned back to the throne 
from whence divine compassion brought the down % But 
this is not all the triumph of thine illustrious grace. It not 
only brought thee down to earth, but kept thee here in a frail 
and wretched tabernacle, for long successive years; and at 
length it cost thee thy life, and stretched thee out as a male- 
factor upon the cross, after thou hadst borne insult and cru- 
elty, which it may justly wound my heart so much as to think 
of. And thus thou hast atoned c injured justice, and redeemed 
me to God with thine own blood.' Rev. v. 9. 



72 RISE AND PROGRESS OP 

•• What shall I say 1 c Lord, I believe ; help thou my un- 
belief!' Mark, ix. 24. It seems to put faith to the stretch, 
to admit what it indeed exceeds the utmost stretch of imag- 
ination to conceive. Blessed, forever blessed be thy name, 
O thou Father of mercies, that thou hast contrived the way! 
Eternal thanks to the Lamb that was slain, and to that kind 
Providence that sent the word of this salvation to me ! O 
let me not, for ten thousand worlds, ( receive the grace of 
God in vain !' 2 Cor. vi. 1. O impress this Gospel upon my 
soul, till its saving virtue be diffused over every faculty! Let 
it not only be heard, and acknowledged, and professed, but 
felt ! Make it ' thy power to my eternal salvation ;' (Rom. 
i. 16.) and raise me to that humble, tender gratitude, to that 
active, unwearied zeal in thy service, which becomes one 
' to whom so much is forgiven,' (Luke, vii. 47.) and forgiven 
upon such terms as these ! 

" I feel a sudden glow in mine heart, while these tidings 
are sounding in mine ears ; but, oh ! let it not be a slight 
superficial transport ! O let not this, which I would fain call 
my Christian joy, be as that foolish laughter, with which I 
have been so madly enchanted, c like the crackling blaze of 
thorns under a pot!' Eccles. vii. 6. O teach me to secure 
this mighty blessing, this glorious hope, in the method which 
thou hast appointed ; and preserve me from mistaking the joy 
of nature, while it catches a glimpse of its rescue from des- 
truction, for that consent of grace, which embraces and en- 
sures the deliverance !" 






RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 73 



CHAPTER IX. 

A MORE PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE WAY BY WHICH 
THIS SALVATION IS TO BE OBTAINED. 

1. An inquiry into the way of salvation by Christ being suppos- 
ed. — '2. The sinner is in general directed to repentance and 
faith. — 3. And urged to give up all self-dependence. — 4. And 
to seek salvation by free grace. — 5. A summary of more par- 
ticular directions is proposed; — 6. That the sinner should apply 
to Christ. — 7. With a deep abhorrence of his former sins. — 8. 
And a firm resolution of forsaking them. — 9. That he solemnly 
commits his soul into the hands of Christ, the great vital act of 
faith. — 10. Which is exemplified at large. — 11. That he make 
it in fact the governing care of his future life to obey and imi- 
tate Christ. — 12. Tnis is the only method of obtaining Gospel 
salvation. The sinner deliberating on the necessity of accept- 
ing it. 

1. I now consider you, my dear reader, as coming to mc 
witli the inquiry which the Jews once addressed to our Lord, 
" What shall we do, that we may work the works of God 1" 
John, iv. 28. " What method shall I take to secure that re- 
demption and salvation which I am told Christ has procured 
for his people V I would answer it as seriously and care- 
fully as possible, as one that knows of what importance it is 
to you to be* rightly informed ; and that knows also, how 
strictly he is to answer to God tor the sincerity and care with 
which the reply is made. May I be enabled to " speak as 
his oracle," (1 Pet. iv. 11.) that is, in such a manner as 
faithfully to echo back what the sacred oracles teach ! 

2. And here, that I may be sure to follow the safest guides, 
and the fairest examples, 1 must preach salvation to you, in 
the way of u repentance toward God, and of faith in our 
Lord Jesus Christ," (Acts, xx. 21.) that good old doctrine, 
which the apostles preached, and which no man can pretend 
to change, but at the peril of his own soul, and of theirs who 
attend to him. 

3. I suppose that you are, by this time, convinced of your 
guilt and condemnation, and of your own inability to recover 
yourself. Let me nevertheless urge you to feel that convic- 
tion yet more deeply, and to impress it with yet greater weight 
upon your soul; that you have " undone yourself," and that 
,* in yourself is not your help found." Hos. xiii. 9. Be per- 
suaded, therefore, expressly, and solemnly, and sincerely, to 
give up all self-dependence ; which if you do not guard against 

7 



74 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

it, will be ready to return secretly, before it is observed, and 
will lead you to attempt building up what you have just been 
destroying. 

4. Be assured, that, if ever you are saved, you must as- 
cribe that salvation entirely to the free grace of God. If, 
guilty and miserable as you are, you are not only accepted, 
but crowned, you must " lay down your crown," with all 
humble acknowledgment, " before the throne." Rev. iv. 10. 
"No flesh must glory in his presence; but he that glorieth 
must glory in the Lord : for of him are we in Christ Jesus, 
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and 
sanctification, and redemption." 1 Cor. i. 29, 80, 31. And 
you must be sensible you are in such a state, as, having none 
of these in yourself, to need them in another. You must 
therefore be sensible that you are ignorant and guilty, polluted 
and enslaved ; or, as our Lord expresses it, with regard to 
some who were under a Christian profession, that as a sin- 
ner " you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, 
and naked." Rev. iii. IT. 

5. If these views be deeply impressed upon your mind, you 
will be prepared to receive what I am dow to say. Hear, 
therefore, in a few words, your duty, your remedy, and your 
safety; which consists in this, " That you must apply to Christ, 
with a deep abhorrence of your former sins, and a firm res- 
olution of forsaking them ; forming that resolution in the 
strength of his grace, and fixing your dependence in him for 
your acceptance with God, even while you are purposing to 
do your very best, and when you have actually done the best 
you ever will do in consequence of that purpose. 

6. The first and most important advice that I can give you 
in your present circumstances, is, that you look to Christ and 
apply yourself to him. And here, say not in your heart, " who 
shall ascend into heaven, to bring him down to me V (Rom. 
x. 6.) or, " who shall raise me up thither, to present me be- 
fore him 1" The blessed " Jesus, by whom all things con- 
sist," (Col. i. 17.) by whom the whole system of them is 
supported, " forgotten as he is by most that bear his name," 
"is not far from any of us;" (Acts, xvii. 27.) nor could he 
have promised to have been " wherever two or three are met 
together in his name," (Matt.xviii. 20.) but in consequence 
of those truly Divine perfections, by which he is everywhere 
present. Would you therefore, O sinner ! desire to be saved 1 
go to the Savior. Would you desire to be delivered 1 Look 
to that great Deliverer ; and though you should be so over- 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 75 

whelmed with guilt and shame, and fear, and horror, that 
you should be incapable of speaking to him, fall down in this 
speechless confusion at his feet, " and behold him as the Lamb 
of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." John, i. 29. 

7. Behold him therefore with an attentive eye, and say, 
whether the sight does not touch, and even melt thy very 
heart ! Dost thou not feel what a foolish and what a wretched 
creature thou hast been, that, for the sake of such low and 
sordid gratifications and interests as those which thou hast 
been pursuing, thou shouldst thus " kill the Prince of Life V* 
Acts, iii. 15. Behold the deep wounds which he bore for 
thee, " look on him whom thou hast pierced, and surely thou 
must mourn," (Zech. xii. 10) unless thine heart be hardened 
into stone. Which of thy past sins canst thou reflet upon, 
and say, " For this it is worth my while to have thus injured 
my Savior, and to have exposed the Son of God to such suf- 
ferings 1 And what future temptations can arise so consider- 
able, that thou shouldst say, " For the sake of this I will 
crucify my Lord again 1" Heb. vi. 6. Sinner, thou must 
repent, thou must repent of every sin, and must forsake it; 
but if thou doest it to any purpose, I well know it must be 
at the foot of the cross. Thou must sacrifice every lust, even 
the dearest, though it should be like a " right hand or a right 
eye;" (Matt. v. 29, 30.) and therefore that thou mayest, if 
possible, be animated to it, I have led thee to that altar on 
which " Christ himself was sacrificed for thee an offering of 
a sweet-smelling savor." Eph. v. 2. Thou must "yield up 
thyself to God as one alive from the dead." Rom. vi. 15. 
And therefore I have showed thee at what a price he pur- 
chased thee ; " for thou wast not redeemed with corruptible 
things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the 
Son of God, that Lamb without blemish and without spot.'* 
1 Pet. h 18, 19.. And now 1 would ask thee, as before the 
Lord, what does thine own heart say to it 1 Art thou grieved 
for thy former offences % Art thou willing to forsake thy sins % 
Art thou willing to become the cheerful, thankful servant of 
him who hath purchased thee with his own blood 1 

8. I will suppose such a purpose as this rising in thine 
heart. How determinate it is, and how effectual it may be, 
I know not; what different views may arise hereafter, or how 
soon the present sense may wear off. But this I assuredly 
know, tnat thou wilt never see reason to change these views; 
for however thou mayest alter, the " Lord Jesus Christ is the 
game yesterday, to-day, and forever." Heb. xiii. 8, Arid the 



76 RISE AjSD progress of 

reasons that now recommend repentance and faith as fit and 
as necessary, will continue invariable, as long as the perfec- 
tions of the blessed God are the same, and as long as his Son 
continues the same. 

9. But while you have these views and these purposes, I 
must remind you, that this is not all which is necessary to 
your salvation. You must not only purpose but, as God gives 
opportunity, you must act as those who are convinced of the 
evil of sin, and of the necessity and excellence of holiness. 
And that you may be enabled to do so, in other instances, 
you must in the first place, and as the first great work of 
God, (as our Lord himself calls it), " believe in him whom 
God hath sent:" (John, vi. 29.) you must confide in him; 
must commit your soul into the hands of Christ, to be saved 
by him in his own " appointed method of salvation." This 
is the great act of saving faith, and I pray God that you may 
experimentally know what it means, so as to be able to say 
with the apostle Paul, in the near view of death itself, " I 
know whom I. have believed, and am persuaded that he is able 
to keep that which I have committed to him until that day :" 
(2 Tim. i. 12.) that great decisive day, which, if we are 
Christians, we have always in view. To this I would urge 
you ; and O that I could be so happy as to engage you to it, 
while I am illustrating it in this and the following addresses ! 
Be assured you must not apply yourself immediately to God 
absolutely, or in himself considered, in the neglect of a Me- 
diator. It will neither be acceptable to him, nor safe for you, 
to rush into his presence without any regard to his own Son, 
whom he hath appointed to introduce sinners to him. And 
if you come otherwise, you come as one who is not a sinner. 
The very manner of presenting the address will be interpreted 
as a denial of that guilt with which he knows you are charge- 
able; and therefore he will not admit you, nor so much as 
look upon you. And accordingly our Lord, knowing how 
much every man living was concerned in this, says, in the 
most universal terms, " No man cometh unto the Father but 
by me." John, xiv. ^. 

10. Apply therefore to this glorious Redeemer, amiable as 
he will appear to every believing eye in the blood which he 
shed upon the cross, and in the wounds which he received 
there. Go to him, O sinner ! this day, this moment, with all 
thy sins about thee. Go just as thou art; for if thou wilt 
never apply to him till thou art first righteous and holy, thou 
wilt never be righteous and holy at all; nor canst be so on 






RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 77 

this supposition, unless there were some way of being so with- 
out him 5 and then there would be no occasion for applying 
to him for righteousness and holiness. It were indeed as if 
it should be said, that a sick man should defer his application 
to a physician till his health is recovered/ Let me therefore 
repeat it without offence, go to him just as thou art, and say, 
(O that thou mayest this moment be enabled to say it from 
thy very soul !) " Blessed Jesus, I am surely one of the most 
sinful and one of the most miserable creatures, that ever fell 
prostrate before thee ; nevertheless I come, because I have 
heard that thou didst once say, ' Come unto me all ye that la- 
bor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' Matt. xii. 
28. I come, because I have heard that thou didst graciously 
say, ( Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.' 
John, vi. 37. O thou Prince of Peace, O thou King of Glory ! 
I am a condemned, miserable sinner, I have ruined my own 
soul, and am condemned forever, if thou dost not help me and 
save me. I have broken thy Father's law, and thine ; for thou 
art 'one with him.' John, x. 30. I have deserved condemna- 
tion and wrath ; and I am, even at this very moment, under a 
sentence of everlasting destruction, a destruction which will 
be aggravated by all the contempt that I have cast upon thee, 
O thou bleeding Lamb of God ! for I cannot, and will not dis- 
semble it before thee, that I have wronged thee, most basely 
and ungratefully wronged thee, under the character of a Sav- 
ior, as well as of a Lord. But now I am willing to submit to 
thee ; and I have brought my poor trembling soul, to lodge 
it in thine hands, If thou wilt condescend to receive it ; and 
if thou dost not, it must perish. O Lord, I lie at thy feet: 
stretch out s thy golden sceptre that I may live.' Esth. iv. 11. 
' Yea, if it please the King, let the life of my soul be given 
me at my petition !' Esth. vii. 3. I have no treasure where- 
with to purchase it, I have no equivalent to give thee for it ; 
but if that compassionate heart of. thine can find a pleasure 
in saving one of the most distressed creatures under heaven, 
that pleasure thou mayest here find. O Lord, I have fool- 
ishly attempted to be my own savior, but it will not do. I 
am sensible the attempt is vain, and therefore I give it over, 
and look unto thee. On thee, blessed Jesus, who art sure 
and steadfast, do I desire to fix my anchor. On thee, as the 
only sure foundation, would I build my eternal hopes. To 
thy teaching, O thou unerring Prophet of the Lord, would I 
submit : be thy doctrines ever so mysterious, it is enough for 
me that thou thyself hast said it. To thine atonement, obe- 



78 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

dience, and intercession, O thou holy and ever acceptable 
High Priest, would I trust. And to thy government, O thou 
exalted Sovereign, would I yield a willing, delightful subjec- 
tion : in token of reverence and love, ' I kiss the Son :' 
(Psalm ii. 12.) I kiss the ground before his feet. I admit 
thee, O my Savior ! and welcome thee with unutterable joy, 
to the throne in my heart. Ascend it, and reign there for- 
ever ! Subdue mine enemies, O Lord, for they are thine; 
and make me thy faithful and zealous servant : faithful to 
death, and zealous to eternity." 

11. Such as this must be the language of your very heart 
before the Lord. But then remember, that, in consequence 
thereof, it must be the language of your life too. The un- 
meaning words of the lips would be a vain mockery. The 
most affectionate transport of the passions, should it be tran- 
sient and ineffectual, would be but like a blaze of straw, pre- 
sented, instead of incense, at his altar. With such humility, 
with such love, with such cordial self-dedication and submis- 
sion of soul, must thou often prostrate thyself in the presence 
of Christ; and then thou must go away, and keep him in 
thy view; must go away, and live unto God through him, de- 
nying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and behaving thyself 
u soberly, righteously, and godly, in this vain ensnaring 
world." Tit. ii. 12. You must make it your care to show 
your love by obedience, by forming yourself, as much as pos- 
sible, according to the temper and manner of Jesus, in whom 
you believe. You must make it the great point of your am- 
bition, and a nobler view you cannot entertain, to be a living 
image of Chirist ; that, so far as circumstances will allow, 
even those who have heard and read but little of him, may, 
by observing you, in some measure, see and know what kind 
of a life that of the blessed Jesus was. And this must be 
your constant care, your prevailing character, as long as you 
live. You must follow him whithersoever he leads you ; must 
follow with a cross on your shoulder, when he commands you 
to "take it up;" (Matt. xvi. 24.) and so must be faithful 
even unto death, expecting the crown of life." Rev. ii. 10. 

12. This, so far as I have been able to learn form the word 
of God, is the way to safety and glory : the surest, t-he only 
way you can take. It is the way which every faithful min- 
ister of Christ has trod, and is treading; and the way to which, 
as he tenders the salvation of his own soul, he must direct 
others. We cannot, we would not alter it in favor of our- 
selves, or of our dearest friends. It is the way in which alone, 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 79 

so far as we can judge, it becomes the blessed God to save 
his apostate creatures. And therefore, reader, I beseech and 
entreat you seriously to consider it ; and let your conscience 
answer, as in the presence of God, whether you are willing 
to acquiesce in it or not. But know, that to reject it is thine 
eternal death. For as " there is no other name under heaven 
given among men whereby we can be saved," (Acts, iv. 12.) 
but this of Jesus of Nazareth, so there is no other method 
but this in which Jesus himself will save us. 

The Sinner deliberating on the Expediency of falling 
in with this Method of Salvation. 

" Consider, O my soul ! what answer wilt thou return to 
such proposals as these 1 Surely, if I were to speak the first 
dictate of this corrupt and degenerate heart, it would be, 
* This is a hard saying, and who can hear it V John, vi. 60. 
To be thus humbled, thus mortified, thus subjected ! To take 
such a yoke upon me, and to carry it as long as I live ! To give 
up every darling lust, though dear to me as a right eye, and 
seemingly necessary as a right hand ! To submit not only my 
life, but my heart, to the command and discipline of another ! 
To have a master there, and such a master as will control 
many of its favorite affections, and direct them quite into 
another channel ! A master, who himself represents his com- 
mands, by taking up the cross and following him 1 To ad- 
here to the strictest rules of godliness and sobriety, of right- 
eousness and truth : not departing from them in any allowed 
instance, great or small, upon any temptation, for any advan- 
tage, to escape any inconvenience and evil, no, not even for 
the preservation of life itself, but, upon a proper call of Prov- 
idence, to act as if I i hated even my own life !' Luke, xiv. 
26. Lord, it is hard to flesh and blood ; and yet I perceive 
and feel there is one demand yet harder than this. 

" With all these precautions, with all these mortifications, 
the pride of my nature would find some inward resource of 
pleasure, might I but secretly think that I had been my own 
savior, that my own wisdom, and my own resolution had bro- 
ken the bands and chains of the enemy, and that I had drawn 
out of my own treasures the price with which my redemption 
was purchased. But must I lie down before another, as guilty 
and condemned, as weak and helpless % And must the obli- 
gation be multiplied, and must a Mediator have his share too 1 
Must I go to the cross for my salvation, and seek my glory 
from the infamy of that 1 Must I be stripped of every pleas- 



80 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

ing pretence to righteousness, and stand, in this respect, upon 
a level with the vilest of men I Stand at the bar amongst the 
greatest criminals, pleading guilty with them, and seeking 
deliverance by that very act of grace whereby they have ob- 
tained it. 

"I dare not deliberately say, this method is unreasonable. 
My conscience testifies that I have sinned, and cannot be jus- 
tified before God as an innocent and obedient creature. My 
conscience tells me, that all these humbling circumstances are 
fit; that it is fit a convicted criminal should be brought upon 
his knees ; that a captive rebel should give up the weapons 
of his rebellion, and bow before his sovereign, if lie expect 
his life. Yea, my reason, as well as my conscience, tells me, 
that it is fit and necessary, that, if I am saved at all, I should 
be saved from the power and love of sin, as well as from the 
condemnation of it ; and that, if sovereign mercy gives me a 
new life, after having deserved eternal death, it is most fit I 
should 'yield myself to God as alive from the dead.' Rom. 
vi. 13. But, ' wretched man that I am ! I feel a law in 
my members that wars against the law of my mind,' (Rom. 
vii. 23. 24.) and opposes the conviction of my reason and 
conscience. Who shall deliver me froji this bondage 1 Who 
shall make me willing to do that which I know in my own 
soul to be most expedient % O Lord ^rodue my heart, and let 
it not be drawn so strongly one way, while the nobler pow- 
ers of my mind would direct it another ! Conquer every licen- 
tious principle within, that it may be my joy to be so wisely 
governed and restrained ! Especially subdue my pride, that 
lordly corruption, which so ill suits an impoverished and con- 
demned creature; that thy way of salvation maybe made 
amiable to me in proportion to the degree in which it is humb- 
ling ! I feel a disposition to ' linger in Sodom, but O be mer- 
ciful to me, and pull me out of it,' (Gen. xix. 16.) before 
the storm of thy flaming vengeance fall, and there be no more 
escaping !" 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 81 



CHAPTER X. 

THE SINNER SERIOUSLY URGED AND ENTREATED TO 
ACCEPT OF SALVATION IN THIS WAY. 

1. Since many who have been impressed with these things, suf- 
fer the impression to wear off. — 2. fe'trongly as the case speaks 
for itself, sinners are to be entreated to accept this salvation. 
— 3. Accordingly the reader is entreated — by the majesty and 
mercy of God — 4. By the dying love of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
— 5. By the regard due to our fellow-creatures. — 6. By the 
worth of his own immortal soul. — 7. The matter is solemnly 
left with the reader, as before God. The sinner yielding to 
these entreaties, and declaiing his acceptance of salvation by 
Christ. 

1. Thus far have I often known convictions and impressions 
to arise, (if I might judge by the strongest appearances,) which 
after all have worn off again. Some unhappy circumstance 
of external temptation, ever joined by the inward reluctance 
of an unsanctined heart to this holy and humbling scheme of 
redemption, has been the ruin of multitudes. And, " through 
the deceitfulness of sin, they have been hardened," (Heb. iii. 
25.) till they seem to have been " utterly destroyed, and that 
without remedy." Prov. xxix. 1. And therefore, O thou 
immortal creature, who art now reading these lines, I beseech 
thee, that, while affairs are in this critical situation, while 
there are these balancings of mind, between accepting and 
rejecting that glorious Gospel, which, in the integrity of my 
heart, I have now been laying before you, you would once 
more give me an attentive audience while I plead, in God's 
behalf, shall I say 1 or rather in your own ; while " as an . 
ambassador for Christ, and as though God did beseech you 
by me, I pray you in Christ's stead that you would be recon- 
ciled to God," (2 Cor. v. 20.) and would not, after these 
awakenings and these inquiries, by a madness which it will 
surely be the doleful business of a miserable eternity to la- 
ment, reject this compassionate counsel of God toward you. 

2. One would indeed imagine there should be no need of 
importunity here. One would conclude, that as soon as per- 
ishing sinners are told, that an offended God is ready to be 
reconciled, that he offers them a full pardon for all their ag- 
gravated sins ; yea, that he is willing to adopt them into his 
family now, that he may at length admit them to his heavenly 
presence ; all should, with the utmost readiness and pleasure, 
embrace so kind a message, and fall at nis feet in speechless 



82 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

transports of astonishment, gratitude, and joy. But, alas ! 
we find it much otherwise. We see multitudes quite unmov- 
ed, and the impressions which are made on many more are 
feeble and transient. Lest it should be thus with you, O read- 
er ! let me urge the message with which I have the honor to 
be charge 1 : let me entreat you to be reconciled to God, and 
to accept of pardon and salvation in the way in which it is 
so freely offered to you. 

3. I entreat you, " by the majesty of that God in whose 
name I come," w r hose voice fills all heaven with reverence and 
obedience. He speaks not in vain to legions of angels ; but 
if there could be any contention among those blessed spirits, 
it would be, who should be first to execute his commands. 
Oh ! let him not speak in vain to a wretched mortal ! I en- 
treat you, "by the terrors of his wrath," who could speak 
to you in thunder; who could, by one single act of his will, 
cut off this precarious life of yours, and send you down to hell. 
I beseech you by his mercies, by his tender mercies, by the 
bewels of his compassion, which still yearn over you, as those 
of a parent over " a dear son," over a tender child, whom, 
notwithstanding his former ungrateful rebellion, " he earnestly 
remembers still." Jer. xxxi. 20. I beseech and entreat you, 
" by all this paternal goodness," that you do not, as it were, 
compel him to lose the character of the gentle Parent in that 
of tile righteous Judge : so that, as he threatens with regard 
to those whom he had just called his sons and his daughters, 
" a fire shall be kindled in his anger, which shall burn unto 
the lowest hell." Deut. xxxii. 19, 22. 

4. I beseech you further, "by the name and love of our 
dying Savior." I beseech you, by all the condescension of 
his incarnation, by that poverty to which he voluntarily sub- 
mitted, " that you might be enriched" with eternal treasures ; 
(2 Cor. viii. 9.) by all the gracious invitations which he gave, 
which still sound in his word, and still coming, as it were, 
warm from his heart, are " sweeter than honey, or the hon- 
ey-comb." Psalm xix. 10. I beseech you, by all his glorious 
works of power and of wonder, which were also works of 
love. I beseech you by the memory of the most benevolent 
person and the most generous friend. I beseech you by the 
memory of what he suffered, as well as of what he said and 
did ; by the agony which he endured in the garden, when his 
body was covered "with a dew of blood." Luke, xxii. 44. 
I beseech you, by all that tender distress which he felt, when 
his dearest friends " forsook him and fled," (Matt. xxvi. 56.) 






RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 83 

and his blood-thirsty enemies dragged him away, like the 
meanest of slaves, and like the vilest of criminals. I be- 
seech you, by the blows and bruises, by the stripes and lashes, 
which this injured Sovereign endured while in their rebellious 
hands ; " by the shame of spitting, from which he hid not 
that kind and venerable countenance." Isai. 1. 6. I beseech 
you, " by the purple robe, the sceptre of reed, and the crown 
of thorns, which this King of Glory wore, that he might set 
us among the princes of heaven." Psalm cxiii. 8. I beseech 
you, by the heavy burden of "the cross," under which he 
panted, and toiled, and fainted, in the painful way " to Gol- 
gotha," (John xix. 17.) that he might free us from the bur- 
den of our sins. I beseech you, by the remembrance of those 
rude nails that tore the veins and arteries, the nerves and ten- 
dons, of his sacred hands and feet; and by that invincible, 
that triumphant goodness, which, while the iron pierced his 
flesh, engaged him to cry out, " Father, forgive them, for they 
know not what they do." Luke, xxiii. 34. I beseech you, 
by that unutterable anguish which he bore, when lifted up 
upon the cross, and extended there, as on a rack, for six 
painful hours, that you open your heart to those attractive 
influences which have " drawn to him thousands and ten thou- 
sands." John, xii. 32. I beseech you, by all that insult and 
derision which the " Lord of glory bore there ;" <,Matt. xxvii. 
29 — 44.) by that parching thirst, which could hardly obtain 
the relief of " vinegar," (John, xix. 28, 29.) by that doleful 
cry, so astonishing in the mouth of the only begotten of the 
Father, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me 1" 
Matt, xxvii. 46. I beseech you, by that grace that subdued 
and pardoned " a dying malefactor ;" (Luke, xxiii. 42, 43.) 
by that compassion for sinners, by that compassion for you, 
which wrought in his heart, long as its vital motion continued, 
and which ended not when " he bowed his head, saying, It 
is finished, and gave up the ghost." John, xix. 30. I be- 
seech you, by the triumphs of that resurrection, by which he 
was " declared to be the Son of God with power," by the 
spirit of holiness which wrought to accomplish it, (Rom. i. 
4.) by that gracious tenderness which attempered all these 
triumphs, when he said to her out of whom lie had cast seven 
devils, concerning his disciples, who had treated him so basely, 
" Go, tell my brethren, I ascend unto my Father and your 
Father, unto my God and your God." John, xx. 17. I be- 
seech you, by that condescension with which he said to 
Thomas, when his unbelief had made such an unreasonably 



84 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

demand, " Reach hither thy finger, and behold mine hands, 
and reach hither thine hand, and thrust it into my side; and 
be not faithless, but believing." John, xx. 27. I beseech 
you, by that generous and faithful care of his people, which 
he carried up with him to the regions of glory, and which 
engaged him to send down "his Spirit," in that rich profu- 
sion of miraculous gifts, to spread the progress of his saving 
word. Acts ii. 33. I beseech you, by that voice of sympa- 
thy and power, with which he said to Saul, while injuring 
his church, " Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me 1" (Acts, 
ix. 4.) by that generous goodness, which spared that pros- 
trate enemy when he lay trembling at his feet, and raised him 
to so high a dignity, as to be " not inferior to the very chiefest 
apostles." 2 Cor. xii. 11. I beseech you, by the memory of 
all that Christ hath already done, by the expectation of all 
he will further do for his people. I beseech you at once, by 
the sceptre of his grace, and by that sword of his justice, 
with which all his incorrigable "enemies" shall be "slain 
before him," (Luke, xix. 20.) that you do not trifle away 
these precious moments, while his Spirit is thus breathing 
upon you ; that you do not lose an opportunity which may 
never return, and on the improvement of which your eternity 
depends. 

5. I beseech you, " by all the bowels of compassion which 
you owe to the faithful ministers of Christ," who are study- 
ing and laboring, preaching and praying, wearing out their 
time, exhausting their strength, and very probably shortening 
their lives, for the salvation of your soul, and of souls like 
yours. I beseech you, by the affection with which all that 
love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity long to see you brought 
back to him. I beseech you, by the friendship of the living, 
and by the memory of the dead ; by the ruin of those who 
have trifled away their days, and perished in their sins, and 
by the happiness of those who have embraced the Gospel, and 
are saved by it. I beseech you, by the great expectation of 
that important " day, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed 
from heaven ;" (2 Thess. i. 7.) by " the terrors of a dissolv- 
ing world;" (2 Pet. iii. 10.) by the " sound of the archangel's 
trumpet," (1 Thess. iv. 16.) and of that infinitely more aw- 
ful sentence, " Come, ye blessed," and " Depart, ye cursed," 
with which that grand solemnity shall close. Matt. xxv. 
34, 41. 

6. I beseech you, finally, by your own precious and immor- 
tal soul; by the sure prospect of a dying bed, or -of a sudden 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 85 

surprise into the invisible state; and as you would feel one 
spark of comfort in your departing spirit, when your flesh 
and your heart are failing. I beseech you, by your own per- 
sonal appearance before the tribunal of Christ, (for a per- 
sonal appearance it must be, even to them who now sit on 
thrones of their own ;) by all the transports of the blessed, 
and by all the agonies of the damned, the one or the other 
of which must be your everlasting portion. I affectionately 
entreat and beseech you, in the strength of all these united 
considerations, as you will answer it to me, who may in that 
day be summoned to testify against you; and, which is un- 
speakably more, as you will answer it to your conscience, as 
you will answer it to the eternal Judge, that you dismiss not 
these thoughts, these meditations, and these cares, till you 
have brought matters to a happy issue ; till you have made 
a resolute choice of Christ, and his appointed way of salva- 
tion, and till you have solemnly devoted yourself to God in 
the bonds of an everlasting covenant. 

7. And thus I lef.ve the matter before you, and before the 
Lord. I have told you my errand; I have discharged my 
embassy. Stronger arguments I cannot use, more endearing 
and more awful considerations I cannot suggest. Choose, 
therefore, whether you will go out, as it were clothed in sack- 
cloth, to cast yourself at the feet of him who now sends you 
these equitable and gracious terms of peace and pardon ; or 
whether you will hold it out till he appears sword in hand, to 
reckon with you for your treasons and your crimes, and for 
this neglected embassy among the rest of them. Fain would 
I hope the best ; nor can I believe that this labor of love shall 
be so entirely unsuccessful, that not one soul shall be brought 
to the foot of Christ in cordial submission and humble faith. 
" Take with you," therefore, " words, and turn unto the 
Lord;" (Hos. xiv. 2.) and, oh! that those which follow 
might in effect at least be the genuine language of every one 
that reads them ! 

The Sinner yielding to these Entreaties, and declaring 
his acceptance of Salvation by Christ. 
(: Blessed Lord, it is enough ! It is too much ! Surely 
there needs not this variety of arguments, this importunity 
of persuasion, to court me to be happy, to prevail on me to 
accept of pardon, of life, of eternal glory. Compassionate 
Savior, my soul is subdued; so that I trust the language of 
thy grief is become that of my penitence, and I may say, 



86 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

f my heart is melted like wax in the midst of my bowels.' 
Psalm xxii. 14. 

" O gracious Redeemer ! I have already neglected4hee too 
long. I have too often injured thee : have crucified thee 
afresh by my guilt and impenitence, as if I had taken pleas- 
ure in f putting thee to an open shame. 5 Heb. vi. 6. But my 
heart now bows itself before thee in humble, unfeigned sub- 
mission. I desire to make no terms with thee but these — 
that I may be entirely thine. I cheerfully present thee with 
a blank, entreating thee that thou wilt do me the honor to 
signify upon it what is thy pleasure. Teach me, O Lord, 
what thou wouldst have me to do ! for I desire to learn the 
lesson, and to learn it that I may practice it. If it be more 
than my feeble powers can answer, thou wilt, I hope, give 
me more strength ; and in that strength I will serve thee. O 
receive a soul, which thou hast made willing to be thine ! 

" No more, O blessed Jesus, no more is it necessary to 
beseech and entreat me. Permit me rather to address myself 
to thee, with all the importunity of a perishing sinner, that 
at length sees and knows 'there is salvation in no other!' 
Acts, iv. 12. Permit me now, Lord, to come and throw 
myself at thy feet, like a helpless outcast that has no shelter 
but in thy gracious compassion ! like one ' pursued by the 
avenger of blood, 5 and seeking earnestly an admittance 'into 
the city of refuge ! 5 Josh. xx. 2, 3. 

" c I wait for the Lord ; my soul doth wait ; and in thy 
word do I hope, 5 (Psalm cxxx. 5.) that thou wilt 'receive 
me graciously. 5 Hos. xiv. 2. My soul confides in thy good- 
ness, and adores it. I adore the patience which ha.« borne 
with me so long ; and the grace that now makes me heartily 
willing to be thine : to be thine on thine own terms, thine on 
any terms. O secure this treacherous heart to thyself! O 
unite me to thee in such inseparable bonds, that none of the 
allurements of flesh and blood, none of the vanities of an en- 
snaring world, none of the solicitations of sinful companions, 
may draw me back from thee, and plunge me into new guilt 
and ruin ! ' Be surety, O Lord, for thy servant for good,' 
(Psalm cxix. 122.) that I may still keep my hold on thee, 
and so on eternal life ; till at length 1 know more fully, by 
joyful and everlasting experience, how complete a Savior thou 
art. Amen. 5 ' 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 87 



CHAPTER XI. 

* 
A SOLEMN ADDRESS TO THOSE WHO WILL NOT BE PER- 
SUADED TO FALL IN WITH THE DESIGN OF THE 
GOSPEL. 

1. Universal success not to be expected. — 2 — 4. Yet, as unwill- 
ing absolutely to give up any, the author addresses those who 
doubt the truth of Christianity, urging an inquiry into its evi- 
dences, and directing to proper methods for that purpose. — 5. 
Those who determine to give it up without further examina- 
tion. — 6. And presume to set themselves to oppose it. — 7, 8. 
Those who speculatively assent to Christianity as true, and 
yet will set down without any practical regard to its most im- 
portant and acknowledged truths. Such are dismissed with a 
representation of the absurdity of their conduct on their own 
principles. — 9, 10. With a solemn warning of its fatal conse- 
quences. — 11. And a compassionate prayer, which concludes 
the chapter, and this part of the work. 

1. I would humbly hope, that the preceding chapters will 
be the means of awakening some stupid and insensible sin- 
ners, the means of convincing them of their need of Gospel- 
salvation, and of engaging some cordially to accept it. Yet 
I cannot flatter myself so far as to hope this should be the 
case, with regard to all into whose hands this book shall come. 
" What am I, alas ! better than my fathers," (1 Kings, xix. 
4.) or better than my brethren, who have in all ages been 
repeating their complaint, with regard to multitudes, that they 
"have stretched out their hand all day long to a disobedient 
and gainsaying people V Rom. x. 21. Many such may, 
perhaps, be found in the number of my readers ; many, on 
whom neither considerations of terror, nor of love, will make 
any deep and lasting impression ; many, who, as our Lord 
learned by experience to express it, " when we pipe to them, 
will not dance; and when we mourn unto them, will not la- 
ment. 5 ' Matt. xi. 17. I can say no more to persuade them, 
if they make light of what 1 have already said. Here, there- 
fore, we must part : in this chapter I must take my leave of 
them ; and O that I could do it in such a manner, as to fix, 
at parting, some conviction upon their hearts, that, though I 
seem to leave them for a little while, and send them back to 
review again the former chapters, as those in which alone 
they have any present concern, they might soon, as it were, 
overtake me again, and find a suitableness in the remaining 
part of this treatise, which at present they cannot possibly 



88 RISE ASD PROGRESS OF 

find. Unhappy creatures, I quit you as a physician quits a 
patient whom he loves, and is just about to give over as in- 
curable : he returns again and again, and re-examines the 
several symptoms, to observe whether there be not some one 
of them more favorable than the rest, which may encourage 
a renewed application. 

2. So would I once more return to you. You do not find 
in yourself any disposition to embrace the Gospel, to apply 
yourself to Christ, to give yourself up to the service of God, 
and to make religion the ousiness of your life. But if I can- 
not prevail upon you to do this, let me engage you, at least, 
to answer me, or rather to answer your own conscience, 
ii Why you will not do it V Is it owing to any secret dis- 
belief of the great principles of religion 1 If it be, the case 
is different from what I have yet considered, and the cure 
must be different. This is not a place to combat with the 
scruples of infidelity. Nevertheless, I would desire you seri- 
ously to inquire, "How far those scruples extendi" Do 
they affect any particular doctrine of the Gospel on which 
my argument hath turned ; or do they affect the whole Christ- 
ian revelation 1 Or do they reach yet farther, and extend 
themselves to natural religion, as well as revealed, so that it 
should be a doubt with you, whether there be any God, and 
providence, and future state, or not '"? As these cases are all 
different, so it will be of great importance to distinguish the 
one from the other ; that you may know on what principles 
to build as certain, in the examination of those concerning 
which you are yet in doubt. But, whatever these doubts are, 
I would further ask you, " How long have they continued, 
and what method have you taken to get them resolved V 3 
Do you imagine, that, in matters of such moment, it will be 
an allowable case for you to trifle on, neglecting to inquire 
into the evidence of these things, and then plead your not 
being satisfied in that evidence, as an excuse for not acting 
according to them 1 Must not the principles of common sense 
assure you, that, if these things be true, as when you talk of 
doubting about them, you acknowledge it, at least, possible, 
they may be, they are of infinitely greater importance than 
any of the affairs of life, whether of business or pleasure, for 
the sake of which you neglect them 1 Why, then, do you 
continue indolent and unconcerned, from week to week, 
and from month to month, which probably conscience tells 
you is the case 1 

3, Do you ask, " What method you should take to be re* 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 89 

solved 1" It is no hard question. Open your eyes : set 
yourself to think : let conscience speak, and verily do I be- 
lieve, that, if it be not seared in an uncommon degree, you 
will find shrewd forebodings of the certainty both of natural 
and revealed religion, and of the absolute necessity of re- 
pentance, faith, and holiness, to a life of future felicity. If 
you are a person of any learning, you cannot but know by 
what writers, and in what treatises, these great truths are 
defended. And if you are not, you may find, in almost every 
town and neighborhood, persons capable of informing you in 
the main evidences of Christianity, and of answering such 
scruples against it as unlearned minds may have met with. 
Set yourself, then, in the name of God, immediately to con- 
sider the matter. If you study at all, bend your studies close 
this way, and trifle not with mathematics, or poetry, or his- 
tory, or law, or physic, which are all comparatively light as 
a feather, while you neglect this. Study the arguments as 
for your life ; for much more than life depends on it. See 
how far you are satisfied, and why that satisfaction reaches 
no further. Compare evidences on both sides. And, above 
all, consider the design and tendency of the New-Testament. 
See to what it will lead you, and all them that cordially obey 
ijt; and then say, whether it be not good. And consider, 
how naturally its truth is connected with its goodness. Trace 
the character and sentiments of its authors, whose living im- 
age, if I may be allowed the expression, is still preserved in 
their writings; and then ask your heart, can you think this 
was a forgery, an impious, cruel forgery ! For such it must 
have been, if it were a forgery at all : a scheme to mock God, 
and to ruin men, even the best of men, such as reverenced 
conscience, and would abide all extremities for what they 
apprehended to be truth. Put the question to your own heart, 
Can I in my conscience believe it to be such an imposture 1 
Can I look up to an Omniscient God, and say, " O Lord, 
thou knowest that it is in reverence to thee, and in love to 
truth and virtue, that I reject this book, and the method to 
happiness here laid down.' " 

4. But there are difficulties in the way. And what then! 
Have those difficulties never been cleared 1 Go to the living 
advocates for Christianity? to those of whose abilities, can- 
dor, and piety, you have the best opinion, if your prejudices 
will give you leave to have a good opinion of any such; tell 
them your difficulties ; hear their solutions ; weigh them se- 
riously, as those who know they must answer it to God ; and 



90 RISE A^D PROGRESS OF 

while doubts continue, follow the truth as far as it will lead 
you, and take heed that you do not " imprison it in unright- 
eousness." Rom. i. 18. Nothing appears more inconsistent 
and absurd, than for a man solemnly to pretend dissatisfac- 
tion in the evidences of the Gospel, as a reason why he can- 
not in conscience be a thorough Christian ; when at the same 
time he violates the most apparant dictates of reason and 
conscience, and lives in vices condemned even by the hea- 
then. O sirs ! Christ has judged concerning such, and judged 
most righteously and most wisely : " They do evil, and 
therefore they hate the light, neither come they to the light, 
lest their deeds should be made manifest, and be reproved." 
John, iii. 20. But there is a light that will make manifest 
and reprove their works, to which they will be compelled to 
come, and the painful scrutiny of which they shall be forced 
to abide. 

5. In the mean time, if you are determined to inquire no 
further into the matter now, give me leave, at least, from a 
sincere concern that you may not heap upon your head more 
aggravated ruin, to entreat you that you would be cautious 
how you expose yourself to yet greater danger, by what you 
must yourself own to be unnecessary ; I mean attempts to 
prevent others from believing the truth of the Gospel. Leave 
them, for God's sake, and for your own, in possession of those 
pleasures and those hopes, which nothing but Christianity 
can give them ; and act not as if you were solicitous to add 
to the guilt of an infidel the tenfold damnation, which they, 
who have been the perverters and destroyers of the souls of 
others, must expect to meet, if that Gospel, which they have 
so adventurously opposed, shall prove, as it certainly will, a 
serious, and to them a dreadful truth. 

6. If I cannot prevail here, (but the pride of displaying a 
superiority of understanding should bear on such a reader, 
even in opposition to his own favorite maxims of the inno- 
cence of error and the equality of all religions consistent with 
social virtue, to do his utmost to trample down the Gospel 
with contempt), 1 would, however, dismiss him with one 
proposal, which I think the importance of the affair may 
fully justify. If you have done with your examination into 
Christianity, and determine to live and conduct yourself as 
if it were assuredly false, sit down, then, and make a mem- 
orandum of that determination. Write it down : 

" On such a day of such a year, I deliberately resolved 
that I would live and die rejecting Christianity myself, and 






RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 91 

doing all I could to overthrow it. This day I determined, 
not only to renounce all subjection to, and expectation from, 
Jesus of Nazareth, but also to make it a serious part of the 
business of my life, to destroy, as far as I possibly can, all 
regard to him in the minds of others, and to exert my most 
vigorous efforts, in the way of reasoning or of ridicule, to 
sink the credit of his religion, and, if it be possible, to root it 
out of the world ; in calm, steady defiance of that day, when 
his followers say, He shall appear in so much majesty and 
terror, to execute the vengeance threatened to his enemies." 

Dare you write this, and sign it 1 I firmly believe, that 
many a man, who would be thought a deist, and endeavors 
to increase the number, would not. And if you in particular 
dare not do it, whence does that small remainder of caution 
arise 1 The cause is plain. There is in your conscience 
some secret apprehension, that this rejected, this opposed, 
this derided Gospel, may, after all, prove true. And if there 
be such an apprehension, then let conscience do its office, 
and convict you of the impious madness of acting as if it 
were most certainly and demonstrably false. Let it tell you 
at large, how possible it is, that " haply you may be found 
fighting against God;" (Acts, v. 39.) that, bold as you are 
in defying the terrors of the Lord, you may possibly fall into 
his hands; may chance to hear that despised sentence, which, 
when you hear it from the mouth of the eternal Judge, you 
will not be able to despise. I will repeat it again, in spite 
of all your scorn : you may hear the King say to you, " De- 
part, accursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil 
and his angels." Matt. xxv. 41. And now, go and pervert 
and burlesque the Scripture, go and satirize the character of 
its heroes, and ridicule the sublime discourses of its prophets 
and its apostles, as some have done, who have left behind 
them but the short-lived monuments of their ignorance, their 
profaneness, and their malice. Go, and spread, like them, 
the banners of infidelity, and pride thyself in the number of 
credulous creatures listed under them. But take heed, lest 
the insulted Galilean direct a secret arrow to thine heart, 
and stop thy licentious breath, before it has finished the next 
sentence thou wouldst utter against him. 

7. I will turn myself from the deist or the sceptic, and di- 
rect ray address to the nominal Christian ; if he may upon 
any terms be called a Christian, who feels not, after all I 
have pleaded, a disposition to subject himself to the govern- 
ment and the grace of that Savior whose name he bears. 



92 RISE AND PROGRESS Ot 

sinner, thou art turning away from my Lord, in whose 
cause I speak ; but let me earnestly entreat thee seriously to 
consider why thou art turning away; and "to whom thou 
wilt go," from him whom thou acknowledgest " to have the 
words of eternal life." John, vi. 6S. You call yourself a 
Christian, and yet will not by any means be persuaded to 
seek salvation in good earnest from and through Jesus Christ, 
whom you call your Master and Lord. How do you for a 
moment excuse this negligence to your own conscience ] If 

1 had urged you on any controverted point, it might have al- 
tered the case. If I had labored hard to make you the dici- 
ple of any particular party of Christians, your delay might 
have been more reasonable ; nay, perhaps your refusing to 
acquiesce might have been an act of apprehended duty to our 
common Master. But is it matter of controversy among 
Christians, whether there be a great, holy, and righteous 
God; and whether such a Being, whom we agree to own, 
should be reverenced and loved, or neglected and dishonored'? 
Is it matter of controversy) whether a sinner should deeply 
and seriously repent of his sins, or whether he should go on 
in them ! Is it a disputed point amongst us, whether Jesus 
became incarnate, and died upon the cross, for the redemp- 
tion of sinners or not \ And if it be not, can it be disputed 
by them who believe him to be the Son of God and the Sav- 
ior of men, whether a sinner should seek to him, or neglect 
him ; or whether one who professes to be a Christian should 
depart from iniquity, or give himself up to the practice of it ? 
Are the precepts of our great Master written so obscurely in 
his word, that there should be room seriously to question, 
whether he require a devout, holy, humble, spiritual, watch- 
ful, self-denying life, or whether he allow the contrary 1 Has 
Christ, after all his pretentions of bringing life and immor- 
tality to light, left it more uncertain than he found it, whether 
there be any future state of happiness and misery, or for 
whom these states are respectively intended \ Is it a matter 
of controversv, whether God will, or will not, " bring every 
work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be 
good, or whether it be evil!" (Eccles. xii. 14) or whether, 
at the conclusion of that judgment, " the wicked shall go 
away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life 
eternal V Matt. xxv. 46. You will not, I am sure, for very 
shame, pretend any doubt about these things, and yet call 
yourself a Christian. Why then will you not be persuaded 
to lay them to heart, and to act as duty and interest so evi- 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 93 

dently require 1 O sinner, the cause is too obvious, a cause 
indeed quite unworthy of being called a reason. It is be- 
cause thou art blinded and besotted with thy vanities and thy 
lusts. It is because thou hast some perishing trifle, which 
charms thy imagination and thy senses, so that it is dearer 
to thee than God and Christ, than thy own soul and its sal- 
vation. It is, in a word, because thou art still under the in- 
fluence of that carnal mind, which, whatever pious forms it 
may sometimes admit and pretend, " is enmity against God, 
and is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." 
Rom. viii. 7. And therefore thou art in the very case of 
those wretches, concerning whom our Lord said in the days 
of his flesh, " Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have 
life," (John, v. 40.) and therefore "ye shall die in your 
sins," John, viii. 24. 

8. In this case I see not what it can signify, to renew those 
expostulations and addresses which I have made in the for- 
mer chapters. As our blessed Redeemer says of those who 
reject his Gospel, "Ye have" both seen and hated both me 
and my Father," (John, xv. 24.) so may I truly say with 
regard to you, I have endeavored to show you, in the plain- 
est and the clearest words, both Christ and the -Father ; I 
have urged the obligations you are under to both ; I have 
laid before you your guilt and your condemnation; I have 
pointed out the only remedy ; I have pointed out the rock 
on which I have built my own eternal hopes, and the way 
in which alone I expect salvation. I have recommended 
those things to you, which, if God gives me an opportunity, 
I will, with my dying breath, earnestly and affectionately 
recommend to my own children, and to all the dearest 
friends that I have upon earth, who may then be near me, 
esteeming it the highest token of my friendship, the surest 
proof of my love to them. And if, believing the Gospel to 
be true, you resolve to reject it, I have nothing further to 
say, but that you must abide the consequence. — Yet, as 
Moses, when he went out from the presence of Pharaoh for 
the last time, finding his heart yet more hardened by all the 
judgments and deliverances with which he had formerly been 
exercised, denounced upon him " God's passing through the 
land in terror to smite the first-born with death, and warned 
him of that great and lamentable cry, which the sword of 
the destroying angel should raise throughout all his realm;" 
(Exod. xi. 4 — 6.) so will I, sinner, now when I am quitting 
thee, speak to thee yet again, " whether thou wilt hear, or 



94 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

whether thou wilt forbear*" (Ezek. ii. 7.) and denounce that 
much more terrible judgment, which the sword of divine ven- 
geance, already whetted and drawn, and " bathed as it were, 
in heaven, 5 ' (Isai. xxxiv. 5.) is preparing against thee: 
which shall end in a much more doleful cry, though thou vvert 
greater and more obstinate than that haughty monarch. Yes, 
sinner, that I may, with the apostle Paul, when turning to 
others who are more likely to hear me, " shake my raiment, 
and say, I am pure from your blood," (Acts, xviii. 6.) I will 
once more tell you what the end of these things will be. 
And, O that I could speak to purpose ! O that I could thun- 
der in thine ear such a peal of terror, as might awaken thee, 
and be too loud to be drowned in ail the noise of carnal mirth, 
or to be deadened by those dangerous opiates with which 
thou art contriving to stupify thy conscience ! 

9. Seek what amusements and entertainments thou wilt, 
O sinner ! I tell ihee, if thou wert equal in dignity, and power, 
and magnificence, to the " great monarch of Babylon, thy 
pomp shall be brought down to the grave, and all the sound 
of thy viols ; the worm shall be spread under thee, and the 
worm shall cover thee;" (lsai. xiv. 11.) yes, sinner, "the 
end of these things is death!" (Rom. vi. 21.) death in its 
most terrible sense to thee, if this continue thy governing 
temper. Thou canst not aviod it ; and, if it be possible for 
any thing that I can say to prevent, thou shalt not forget it. 
Your " strength is not the strength of stones, nor is your flesh 
of brass." Job, vi. 12. You are accessible to disease, as 
well as others ; and if some sudden accident do not prevent 
it, we shall soon see how heroically you will behave yourself 
on a dying -;ed, and in the near views of eternity. You, that 
now despise Christ, and trifle with his Gospel, we shall see 
you droop and languish ; shall see all your relish for your 
carnal recreations and your vain companions lost. And if 
perhaps one and another of them bolt in upon you, and is 
brutish and desperate enough to attempt to entertain a dying 
man with a gay story, or profane jest, we shall see how you 
will relish it. We shall see what comfort you will have in 
reflecting on what is past, or what hope in looking forward 
to what is to come. Perhaps, trembling and astonished, you 
will then be inquiring, in a wild kind of consternation, " what 
you shall do to be saved :" calling for the ministers of Christ, 
whom you now despise lor the earnestness with which they 
would labor to save your soul ! and it may be falling into a 
delirium, or dying convuliiuiis, before they can come. Or 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 95 

perhaps we may see you flattering yourself, through a long, 
lingering illness, that you shall still recover, and putting off 
any serious reflection and conversation, for fear it should 
overset your spirits. And the cruel kindness of friends and 
physicians, as if they were in league with Satan to make the 
destruction of your soul as sure as possible, may perhaps abet 
this fatal deceit. 

10. And if any of these probable cases happen, that is, in 
short, unless a miracle of grace snatch you " as a brand out 
of the burning," when the flames have, as it were, already 
taken hold of you; all these gloomy circumstances, which 
pass in the chambers of illness and on the bed of death, are 
but the forerunners of infinitely more dreadful things. Oh ! 
who can describe them % Who can imagine them .' When 
surviving friends are tenderly mourning over the breathless 
corpse, and taking a fond farewell of it before it is laid to 
eonsumeaway in the dark and silent grave, into what hands, 
O sinner ! will thy soul be fallen 1 What scenes will open 
upon thy separate spirit, even before thy deserted flesh be 
cold, or thy sightless eyes are closed 1 It shall then know 
what it is to return to God, to be rejected by him as having 
rejected his Gospel and his Son, and despised the only treaty 
of reconciliation ; and that so amazingly condescending and 
gracious ! Thou shalt know what it is to be disowned by 
Christ, whom thou hast refused to entertain ; and what it is, 
as the certain and immediate consequence of that, to be left 
in the hands of the malignant spirits of hell. There will be 
no more friendship then : none to comfort, none to alleviate 
thy agony and distress ; but, on the contrary, all around thee 
laboring to aggravate and increase them. Thou shalt pas3 
away the intermediate years of the separate state in dreadful 
expectation, and bitter outcries of horror and remorse. And 
then thou shalt hear the trumpet of the archangel, in what- 
ever cavern of that gloomy world thou art lodged. Its sound 
shall penetrate thy prison, where, doleful and horrible as it 
is, thou shalt nevertheless wish that thoumightest still be al- 
lowed to hide thy guilty head, rather than show it before the 
face of that awful Judge, before whom " heaven and earth 
are fleeing away." Rev. xx. 11. But thou must come forth, 
and be re-united to a body now formed forever to endure 
agonies, which in this mortal state would have dissolved it 
in a moment. You would not be persuaded to come to Christ 
before : you would stupidly neglect him, in spite of reason, 
in spite of conscience, in spite of all the tender solicitations 



96 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

of the Gospel, and the repeated admonitions of its most faith- 
ful ministers. But now, sinner, you shall have an interview 
with him; if that may be called an interview, in which you 
will not dare to lift up your head, to view the face of your 
tremendous and inexorable Judge. There, at least, how 
distant soever the time of our life and the place of our abode 
may have been, there shall we see how courageously your 
heart will eudure, and how " strong your hands will be when 
the Lord doth this." Ezek. xxii. 14. There shall I see thee, 

reader ! whoever thou art that goest on in thine impeniten- 
cy, among thousands and ten thousands of despairing wretch- 
es, trembling and confounded. There shall I hear thy cries 
among the rest, rending the very heavens in vain. The Judge 
will rise from his throne with majestic composure, and leave 
thee to be hurried down to those everlastirg burnings, to 
which this righteous vengeance hath doomed thee, because 
thou wouldst not be saved from them. Hell shall shut its 
mouth upon thee forever, and the sad echo, of thy groans and 
outcries shall be lost, amidst the hallelujahs of heaven, to all 
that find mercy of the Lord in that day. 

11. This will most assuredly be the end of these things; 
and thou, as a nominal Christian, professest to know, and to 
believe it. It moves my heart, at least, if it moves not thine. 

1 firmly believe, that every one, who himself obtains salva- 
tion and glory, will bear so much of his Savior's image in 
wisdom and goodness, in zeal for God, and a steady regard 
to the happiness of the whole creation, that he will behold 
this sad scene with calm approbation, and without any pain- 
ful commotion of mind. But as yet I am flesh and blood; 
and therefore my bowels are troubled, and mine eyes often 
overflow with grief, to think that wretched sinners will have 
no more compassion upon their own souls; to think, that, in 
spite of all admonition, they will obstinately run upon final, 
everlasting destruction. It would signify nothing here to add 
a prayer or a meditation for your use. Poor creature, you 
will not meditate ! you will not pray ! Yet, as I have often 
poured out my heart in prayer over a dying friend, when the 
force of his distemper has rendered him incapable of joining 
with me, so I will now apply myself to God for you, O un- 
happy creature ! And if you disdain so much as to read 
what my compassion dictates, yet I hope, they who have felt 
the power of the Gospel on their own souls, as they cannot 
but pity such as you, will join with me in such cordial, though 
broken petitions as these : 



RELIGION IH THE SOUL. 97 

A prayer in behalf of an Impenitent Sinner, in the 
case just described. 

" Almighty God ! 6 with thee all things are possible.' Matt, 
xix. 26. To thee therefore do I humbly apply myself in be- 
half of this dear immortal soul, which thou here seest per- 
ishing in its sins, and hardening itself against that everlasting 
Gospel, which has been the power of God to the salvation 
of so many thousands and millions. Thou art witness, O 
blessed God ! thou art witness to the plainness aud serious- 
ness with which the message has been delivered. It is in thy 
presence that these awful words have been written; and in 
thy presence have they been read. Be pleased, therefore,, 
to record it in the book of thy remembrance, that *.so, if this 
wicked man dieth in his iniquity, after the warning has been 
so plainly and solemnly given him, his blood may not be re- 
quired at my hand,' (Ezek. xxxiii. 8, 9.) nor at the hand of 
that Christian friend, whoever he is, by whom this book has 
been procured for him, with a sincere desire for the salvation 
of his soul. Be witness, O blessed ' Jesus, in the day in 
which thou shalt Judge the secrets of all hearts,' (Rom. ii. 
16.) that thy Gospel hath been preached to this hardened 
wretch, and salvation by thy blood hath been offered him,, 
though he continued to despise it. And may thy unworthy 
messenger be i unto God a sweet savour in Christ,' in this 
very soul, even though it should at last perish ! 2 Cor. ii. 15. 

" But, oh ! that after all his hardness and impenitence, thou 
wouldst still be pleased, by the sovereign power of thine effi- 
cacious grace, to awaken and convert him ! Well do we 
know, O thou Lord of universal nature ! that he who made 
the soul, can cause the sword of conviction to come near and 
enter into it. O that, in thine infinite wisdom and love, thou 
wouldst find out a way to interpose, and save this sinner from 
death, from eternal death ! O that, if it be thy blessed will, 
thou wouldst immediately do it ! thou knowest, O God, he is 
a dying creature ! thou knowest that if any thing be done for 
him, it must be done quickly ! thou seest, in the book of thy 
wise and gracious decrees, a moment marked, which must 
seal him up in an unchangeable state ! O that thou wouldst 
lay hold on him, while he.is yet 'joined to the living, and hath 
hope !' Eccles. ix. 4. Thy immutable laws, in the dispen- 
sation of grace, forbid that a soul should be converted and 
renewed after its entrance into the invisible world : O let thy 
sacred Spirit work while he is yet as it were w r ithin the sphere 

9 



33 RISE A]N T D PROGRESS OF 

of its operations ! Work, O God) by whatever method thou 
pleasest ; only have mercy upon him f O Lord ! have mercy 
upon him, that he sink not into these depths of damnation 
and ruin, on the very brink of which he so evidently appears ! 
O that thou wouldst bring him, if that be necessary, and seem 
to thee most expedient, into any depths of calamity and dis- 
tress ! O that, with Manasah, he may be f taken in the thorns, 
and laden with fetters of affliction,' if that may but cause 
aim to c seek the God of his fathers.' 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11, 12. 

<c But I prescribe not to thine infinite wisdom. Thou hast 
displayed thy power in glorious and astonishing instances ; 
which I thank thee that I have so circumstantially known, 
^juid by the knowledge of them have been fortified against the 
rash confidence of those, who weakly and arrogantlv pro- 
nounce that to be impossible, which is actually done. Thou 
hast, I know, done that, by a single thought in retirement, 
when the happy man reclaimed by it hath been far from means, 
and far from ordinances, which neither the most awful admo- 
nitions, nor the most tender entreaties, nor the most terrible 
afflictions, nor the most wonderful deliverances, had been 
able to effect. 

c * Glorify thy name,*0 Lord, and glorify thy grace, in the 
Hfiethod which to thine infinite wisdom shall seem most expe- 
dient ! Only grant, I beseech thee, with an humble submis- 
sion to thy will, that this sinner may be saved ! or if not, that 
the labor of this part of this treatise may not be altogether 
in vain ; but that if some reject it to their aggravated ruin, 
others may hearken and live ! That those thy servants, who 
have labored for their deliverance and happiness, may view 
them in the regions of glory, as the spoils which thou hast 
honored them as the instruments of recovering ; and may join 
with them in the hallelujahs of heaven, ( to him who hath 
loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and 
hath made us,' of condemned rebels, and accursed, polluted 
dinners, 'kings and priests unto God; to him be glory and 
dominion forever and ever !' Rev. i. 5, 6. Amen." 






RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 9$ 



CHAPTER XII. 

AN ADDRESS TO A SOUL SO OVERWHELMED WITH A 
SENSE OF THE GREATNESS OF ITS SINS, THAT IT 
DARES NOT APPLY ITSELF TO CHRIST WITH ANY 
HOPE OF SALVATION. 

1 — 4. The case described at large. — 5. As it frequently occurs,—* 
6. Granting all that the dejected soul charges on itself, — 7. The 
invitations and promises of Christ give hope. — 8. The reader 
urged, under all his burdens and fears, to an humble applica- 
tion to him. Which is accordingly exemplified in the conclud - 
ing Reflection and Prayer. 

1. I have now done with those unhappy creatures who 
despise the Gospel, and with those who neglect it. With 
pleasure do I now turn myself to those who will hear me with 
more regard. Among the various cases which now present 
themselves to my thoughts, and demand my tender, affection- 
ate, respectful care, there is none more worthy of compassion 
than that which I have mentioned in the title of this chapter j> 
none which requires a more immediate attempt of relief. 

2. It is very possible some afflicted creature may be ready 
to cry out, " It is enough : aggravate my grief and my dis- 
tress no more. The sentence you have been so awfully des^ 
cribing, as what shall be passed and executed on the impend 
itent and unbelieving, is my sentence ; and the terrors of it 
are my terrors. ' For mine iniquities have gone up into the 
heavens,' and my transgressions have reached unto the clouds , 
Rev. xviii. 5. My case is quite singular. Surely there nev-. 
er was so great a sinner as I. I have received so many mer- 
cies, have enjoyed so many advantages, I have heard so many 
invitations of Gospel grace ; and yet my heart has been so 
hard, and my nature is so exceeding sinful, and the number 
and aggravating circumstances of my provocations have been 
such, that I dare not hope. It is enough that God hath sup- 
ported me thus long ; it is enough, that, after so many years 
of wickedness, I am yet out of hell. Every day's reprieve 
is a mercy at which I am astonished. I lie. down, and won- 
der that death and damnation, have not seized me in my walks 
the day past. I arise, and wonder that my bed has not been 
my grave ; wonder that my soul is not separated from my 
flesh, and surrounded with devils and damned spirits." 

3. " I have indeed heard the message of solvation ; bu* u 



100 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

alas ! it seems no message of salvation to me. There are 
kappy souls that have hope ; and their hope is indeed in Christ 
and the grace of God manifested in him. But then they feel 
in their hearts an encouragement to apply to him, whereas I 
dare not do it. Christ and grace are things in which I fear 
I have no part, and must expect none. There are exceeding 
rich and precious promises in the word of God; but they are 
to me as a sealed book, and are hid from me as to any per- 
sonal use. I know Christ is able to save : I know he is will- 
ing to save some. But that he should be willing to save me : 
such a polluted, such a provoking, creature, as God knows, 
and as conscience knows, I have been, and to this day am ; 
this I know not how to believe ; and the utmost that I can 
do towards believing it, is to acknowledge that it is not ab- 
solutely impossible, and that I do not lie down in complete 
despair; though, alas ! I seem upon the borders of it, and 
expect every day and hour to fall into it." 

4. I should not, perhaps, have entered so fully into this 
case, if I had not seen many in it ; and I will add, reader, 
for your encouragement, if it be your case, several, who now 
are in the number of the most established, cheerful, and use- 
ful Christians. And I hope divine grace will add you to the 
rest, if " out of these depths you be enabled to cry unto God ;" 
(Psalm cxxx. 1.) and though, like Jonah, you may seem to 
be cast out from his presence, yet still, with Jonah, you " look 
towards his holy temple." Jonah, ii. 4. 

5. Let it not be imagined, that it is in any neglect of that 
blessed Spirit, whose office it is to be the great Comforter, 
that I now attempt to reason you out cf this disconsolate 
frame; for it is as the great source of reason, that he deals 
T^ith rational creatures ; and it is in the use of rational means 
and considerations, that he may most justly be expected to 
operate. Give me leave, therefore, to address myself calmly 
to you, and to ask you, what reasons you have for all these 
passionate complaints and accusations against yourself? What 
reason have you to suggest that your case is singular, when 
so many have told you they have felt the same 1 What rea- 
son have you to conclude so hardly against yourself, when the 
Gospel speaks in such favorable terms 1 Or, what reason to 
imagine, that the gracious things it says are not intended for 
you'? You know, indeed, more of the corruptions of your 
own heart, than you know of the hearts of others ; and you 
make a thousand charitable excuses for their visible failings 
and infirmities, which you make not for your own. And it 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 101 

may be, some of those whom you admire as eminent saints 
when compared with you, are on their part humbling them- 
selves in the dust, as unworthy to be numbered among the 
least of God's people, and wishing themselves like you, in 
whom they think they see much more good, and much less 
of evil, than in themselves. 

6. But to suppose the worst, what if you were really the 
vilest sinner that ever lived upon the face of the earth 1 What 
if " your iniquities had gone up into the heavens" every day, 
and " your transgressions had reached unto the clouds," 
(Rev. xviii. 5.) reached thither with such horrid aggravations, 
that earth and heaven should have had reason to detest you 
as a monster of impiety 1 Admitting all this, " is any thing 
too hard for the Lord V 9 Gen. xviii. 14. Are any sins, of 
which a sinner can repent, of so deep a dye, that the blood 
of Christ cannot wash them away 1 Nay, though it would 
be daring wickedness and monstrous folly, for any " to sin 
that grace may abound," (Rom. vi. 1.) yet had you indeed 
raised your account beyond all that divine grace has ever yet 
pardoned, who should " limit the holy One of Israel 1" (PsaL 
lxxviii. 41.) or who shall pretend to say, that it is impossible 
that God may, for your very wretchedness, choose you out 
from others, to make you a monument of mercy, and a trophy 
of hitherto unparalleled grace 1 The apostle Paul strongly 
intimates this to have been the case with regard to himself; 
and why might not you likewise, if indeed " the chief of sin- 
ners," obtain mercy, that in you, as the chief, Jesus Christ 
might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them who 
shall hereafter believe V 1 Tim. i. 15, 16. 

7. Gloomy as your apprehensions are, I would ask you 
plainly, Do you in your conscience think, that Christ is not 
able to save you 1 What ! is he not " able to save, even to 
the uttermost, them that come unto God by him V Heb. vii. 
25. Yes, you will say, abundantly able to do it ; but I dare 
not imagine that he will do it. And how do you know that 
he will not 1 He has helped the very greatest sinners of all 
that have yet applied themselves to him; and he has made 
thee offers of grace and salvation in the most engaging and 
encouraging terms. " If any man thirst, let him come unto 
me and drink :" (John, vii. 37.) "let him that' is a-thirst 
come; and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life 
freely." Rev. xxii. 17. " Come unto me, all ye that labor, 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "Matt. xi. 28. 
And once more, « Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise 



102 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

cast out." John, vi. 37. " True," will you say, " none that 
are given him by the Father: could I know I were of that 
number, I could then apply cheerfully to him." But, dear 
reader, let me entreat you to look into the text itself, and see 
whether that limitation be expressly added there. Do you 
there read, none of them whom the Father hath given me, 
shall be cast out % The words are in a much more encour- 
aging form ; and why should you frustrate his wisdom and 
goodness by such an addition of your own 1 " Add not to 
nis words, lest he reprove thee ;" (Prov. xxx. 6.) take them 
as they stand, and drink in the consolation of them. Our 
Lord knew into what perplexity some serious minds might 
possibly be thrown by what he had before been saying, " All 
that the Father hath given me shall come unto me;" and 
therefore, as it were on purpose to balance it, he adds those 
gracious words, " him that cometh unto me I will in no wise," 
by no means, on no consideration whatsover, " cast out." 

8. If, therefore, you are already discouraged and terrified 
at the greatness of your sins, do not add to their weight and 
number that one greater, and worse than all the rest, a dis- 
trust of the faithfulness and grace of the blessed Redeemer. 
Do not, so far as in you lies, oppose all the purposes of his 
love to you. O distressed soul ! whom dost thou dread 1 
To whom dost thou tremble to approach 1 Is there any thing 
so terrible in a crucified Redeemer, in the Lamb that was 
6lain 1 If thou carriest thy soul, almost sinking under the 
burden of its guilt, to lay it down at his feet, what dost thou 
offer him, but the spoil which he bled and died to recover and 
possess 1 And did he purchase it so dearly, that he might 
reject it Avith disdain 1 Go to him directly, and fall down in 
his presence, and plead that misery of thine, which thou hast 
now been pleading in a contrary view, as an engagement to 
your own soul to make the application, and as an argument 
with the compassionate Savior to receive you. Go, and be 
assured, that " where sin hath abounded, there grace shall 
much more abound." Rom. v. 20. Be assured, that, if one 
•inner can promise himself a more certain welcome than an- 
other, it is not he that is least guilty and miserable, but he 
that is most deeply humbled before God under a sense of that 
misery and guilt, and lies the lowest in the apprehension of it. 

Reflections on these encouragements^ ending in an hum- 
ble and earnest Application to Christ for mercy. 

. " O my soul ! what sayest thou to these things 1 Is there 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 103 

not at least a possibility of help from Christ ? And is there 
a possibility of help any other way 1 Is any other name giv- 
en under heaven, whereby we can be saved 1 I know there 
is none. Acts, iv. 12. I must then say, like the lepers of Is- 
rael, (2 Kings, vii. 4.) * If I sit here, I perish ; and if I 
make my application in vain, I can but die.' But peradven- 
ture he may save my soul alive. I will therefore arise, and 
go unto him ; or rather, believing him here, by his spiritual 
presence, sinful and miserable as I am, I will this moment 
fall down on my face before him, and pour out my soul unto 
him. 

" Blessed Jesus, I present myself unto thee, as a wretched 
creature, driven indeed by necessity to do it. For surely, 
were not that necessity urgent and absolute, I should not dare, 
for very shame, to appear in thine holy and majestic presence. 
I am fully convinced, that my sins and my follies have been 
inexcusably great, more than I can express, more than I can 
conceive. I feel a source of sin in my corrupt and degener- 
ate nature, which pours out iniquity as a fountain sends out 
its water, and makes me a burden and a terror to myself. 
Such aggravations have attended my transgressions, that it 
looks like presumption so much as to ask pardon for them. 
And yet, would it not be greater presumption to say, that 
they exceed thy mercy, and the efficacy of thy blood ; to say, 
that thou hast power and grace enough to pardon and save 
only sinners of a lower order, while such as I lie out of thy 
reach 1 Preserve me from that blasphemous imagination ! 
Preserve me from that unreasonable suspicion ! Lord, thou 
canst do all things, neither is there any thought of mine heart 
withholden from thee. Job, xlii. 2. Thou art, indeed, as thy 
word declares, able to save unto the uttermost. Heb. vii. 25. 
And therefore, breaking through all the oppositions of shame 
and fear that would keep me from thee, I come and lie down 
as in the dust before thee. Thou knowest, O Lord ! all my 
sins, and all my follies. Psalm lxix. 5. I cannot, and, I hope 
I may say, I would not disguise them before thee, or set my- 
self to find out plausible excuses. Accuse me, Lord, as thou 
pleasest; and I will ingenuously plead guilty to all thine ac- 
cusations. I will own myself as great a sinner as thou callest 
me ; but I am still a sinner that comes unto thee for pardon. 
If I must die, it shall be submitting, and owning the justice 
of the fatal stroke. If I perish, it shall be laying hold, as it 
were, on the horns of the altar : laying myself down at thy 
foot-stool, though I have been such a rebel against thy throne. 



104 RISE AND PROGRESS OE 

Many have received a full pardon there ; have met with fa- 
vor even beyond their hopes. And are all thy compassions, 
O blessed Jesus ! exhausted 1 And wilt thou now begin to 
reject an humble creature, who flies to thee for life, and pleads 
nothing but mercy and free grace 1 Have mercy upon me, 

most gracious Redeemer ! have mercy upon me, and let 
my life be precious in thy sight ! 2 Kings, i. 14. O do not 
resolve to send me down to that state of final misery and de- 
spair, from which it was thy gracious purpose to deliver and 
gave so many ! 

" Spurn me not away, O Lord ! from thy presence, nor be 
offended when I presume to lay hold on thy royal robe, and 
say that I cannot and will not let thee go till my suit is grant- 
ed ! Gen. xxxii. 26. Oh! remember that my eternity is at 
stake ! Remember, O Lord, that all my hopes of obtaining 
eternal happiness, and avoiding everlasting, helpless, hope- 
less destruction, are anchored upon thee; they hang upon thy 
smiles, or drop at thy frown. O have mercy upon me, for 
the sake of this immortal soul of mine ! Or if not for the 
sake of mine alone, for the sake of many others, who may, 
on the one hand, be encouraged by thy mercy to me, or, on 
the other, may be greatly wounded or discouraged by my 
helpless despair ! I beseech thee, O Lord, for thine own sake, 
and for the display of thy Father's rich and sovereign grace ! 

1 beseech thee by the covenant of grace and peace, into which 
the Father did enter with thee for the salvation of believing 
and repenting sinners ! save me, save me, O Lord, who ear- 
nestly desire to repent and believe ! I am indeed a sinner, 
in whose final and everlasting destruction thy justice might be 
greatly glorified; but oh ! if thou wilt pardon me, it will be 
a monument raised to the honor of thy grace, and the effica- 
cy of thy blood, in proportion to the degree in which the 
wretch, to whom thy mercy is extended, was mean and mis- 
erable without it. Speak, Lord, by thy blessed Spirit, and 
banish my fears ! Look unto me with love and grace in thy 
countenance, and say to me, as in the days of thy flesh thou 
didst to many an humble suppliant, ' Thy sins are forgiven 
thee, go in peace.' " 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 105 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE DOUBTING SOUL MORE PARTICULARLY ASSISTED 
IN ITS INQUIRIES AS TO THE SINCERITY OF ITS FAITH 
AND REPENTANCE. 

1. Transient impressions liable to be mistaken for conversion, 
which would be a fatal error. — 2. General scheme for self-ex- 
amination. — 3. Particular inquires — what views there have 
been of sin? — 4. What views there have been of Christ? — 5. 
As to the need the soul has of him ; — 6. And its willingness to 
to receive him with a due surrender of heart to his service. — 
7. Nothing short of this sufficient. The soul submitting to Di- 
vine examination the sincerity of its faith and repentance. 

1. In consequence of all the serious things which have been 
said in the former chapters, I hope it will be no false pre- 
sumption to imagine, that some religious impressions maybe 
made on hearts which had never felt them before ; or may 
be revived where they have formerly grown cold and languid. 
Yet I am very sensible, and I desire that you may be so, how 
great danger there is of self-flattery on this important head, 
and how necessary it is to caution men against too hasty a 
conclusion that they are really converted, because they have 
felt some warm emotions on their minds, and have reformed 
the gross irregularities of their former conduct. A mistake 
here may be infinitely fatal : it may prove the occasion of that 
false peace which shall lead a man to bless himself in his own 
heart, and to conclude himself secure, while n all the threat- 
enings and curses of God's law" are sounding in his ears, 
and lie indeed directly against him : (Deut. xix. 19, 20.) 
while in the mean time he applies to himself a thousand prom- 
ises in which he has no share; which may prove therefore 
like generous wines to a man in a high fever, or strong opi- 
ates to one in a lethargy. " The stony ground hearers re- 
ceived the word with joy," and a promised harvest seemed 
to be springing up ; yet "it soon withered away," (Matt, 
xiii. 5, 6.) and no reaper filled his arms with it. Now, that 
this may not be the case with you, that all my labors and yours 
hitherto may not be lost, and that a vain dream of security 
and happiness may not plunge you deeper in misery and ruin, 
give me leave to lead you into a serious inquiry into your own 
heart, that so you may be better able to judge of your case, 
and to distinguish between what is at most being" only near 
the kingdom of heaven, and becoming indeed a member of it. 

10 



106 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



2. Now this depends upon the sincerity of yoar faith in 
Christ, when faith is taken in the largest extent, as explained 
above : that is, as comprehending repentance, and that steady 
purpose of new and universal obedience, of which, wherever 
it is real, faith will assuredly be the vital principle. There- 
fore, to assist you in judging of your state, give me leave to 
ask you, or rather to entreat you to ask yourself, what views 
you have had, and now have of sin and of Christ 1 And 
what your future purposes are with regard to your conduct in 
the remainder of life that may lie before you 1 I shall not 
reason largely upon the several particulars I suggest under 
these heads, but rather refer you to your own reading and 
observation, to judge how agreeable they are to the word of 
God, the great rule by which our characters must quickly be 
tried, and our eternal state unalterably determined. 

3. Inquire seriously, in the first place, " what views ) r ou 
have had of sin, and what sentiments you have felt in your 
soul with regard to it 1" There was a time when it wore a 
flattering aspect, and made a fair, enchanting appearance, so 
that all your heart was charmed with it, and it was the very 
business of your life to practice it. But you have since been 
undeceived. You have felt it " bite like a serpent, and sting 
like an adder." Prov. xxiii. 31. You have beheld it with 
an abhorrence far greater than the delight which it ever gave 
you. So far it is well. It is thus with every true penitent, 
and with some, I fear, who are not of that number. Let me 
therefore inquire further, whence arose this abhorrence ! 
Was it merely from a principle of self-love 1 Was it merely 
because you had been wounded by it 1 Was it merely be- 
cause you had thereby brought condemnation and ruin upon 
your own soul 1 Was there no sense of its deformity, of its 
baseness, of its malignity, as committed against the blessed 
God, considered as a glorious, a bountiful, and a merciful 
I'eing 1 Were you never pierced by the apprehension of it3 
vile ingratitude % And as for those purposes which have aris- 
es in your heart against it, let me beseech you to reflect how 
they have been formed, and how they have hitherto been ex- 
ecuted. Have they been universal] Have they been resolute! 
Aod yet, amidst all that resolution, have they been humble * 
When you have declared war with sin, was it with every sin! 
And is it an irreconcilable war, which you determine, by di- 
vine grace, to push on till you have entirely conquered it, or 
die in the attempt 1 And are you accordingly active in your 
en ieavors to subdue and destroy it ? If so, what are " the 



BELXGION IN THE SOUL. 107 

fruits worthy of repentance which you bring forth V* Luke, 
iii. 8. It does not, I hope, all flow away in floods of grief. 
Have you "ceased to do evil!" Are you " learning to do 
well!" Isai. i. 16, 17. Doth your reformation show that 
you repent of your sins ! or do your renewed relapses into 
sin prove that you repent even of what you call your repent- 
ance ! Have you an inward abhorrence of all sin, and an 
unfeigned zeal against it! And doth that produce a care to 
guard against the occasions of it, and temptations to it ! Do 
you watch against the circumstances that have ensnared you ! 
And do you particularly double your guard against " that sin 
which does most easily beset you 1" Heb. xii. 1. Is that laid 
aside, that the Christian race may be run : laid aside with 
firm determination that you will return to it no more, that 
you hold no more parley with it, that you will never take an- 
other step toward it! 

4. Permit me also further to inquire, " what your views of 
Christ have been ! What think you of him, and your con- 
cern with him!" Have you been fully convinced that there 
must be a correspondence settled between him and your soul ! 
And do you see and feel, that you are not only to pay him a 
kind of distant homage, and transient compliment, as a very 
wise, benevolent, and excellent person, for whose name and 
memory you have a reverence; but that, as he lives and reigns, 
as he is ever near you, and always observing you, so you must 
look to him, must approach him, must humbly transact busi- 
ness with him, and that business of the highest importance, 
on which your salvation depends ! 

5. You have been brought to inquire, "Wherewith shall 
I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the most high 
God!" Mic. vi. 6. And once perhaps you were thinking of 
sacrifices, which your own stores might have been aufficient 
to furnish out. Are you now convinced they will not suffice ; 
and that you must have recourse to the Lamb which God has 
provided ! Have you had a view of " Jesus as taking away 
the sin of the world!" (John, i. 29.) " as made a sin-offer- 
ing for us, though he knew r no sin, that we might be made 
the righteousness of Gjd in him !" 2 Cor, v. 21. Have 
viewed him as perfectly righteous in himself; and, despairing 
of being justified by any righteousness of your own, have you 
you " submitted to the righteousness of God!" Rom. x. 3. 
Has your heart ever been brought to a deep conviction of this 
important truth, that if ever you are saved at all, it must be 
through Christ ; that if ever God extends mercy to you at all, 



108 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

it must be for his sake ', that if ever you are fixed in the tem- 
ple of God above, you must stand there as an everlasting 
trophy of that victory which Christ has gained over the pow- 
ers of hell, who would otherwise have triumphed over youl 

6. Our Lord says, " Look unto me, and be saved." Isai. 
xlv. 22. He says, " If I be lifted up, I will draw all men 
onto me." John, xii. 32. Have you looked to him as the 
only Savior 1 Have you been drawn unto him by that sacred 
magnet, the attracting influence of his dying love 1 Do you 
know what it is to come to Christ, as a poor (i weary and 
heavy-laden sinner, that you may find rest!" Matt. xi. 28. 
Do you know what it is, in a spiritual sense, " to eat the flesh, 
and drink the blood, of the Son of man ;" (John, vi. 53.) 
that is, to look upon Christ crucified as the great support of 
your soul, and to feel a desire after him, earnest as the ap- 
petite of nature after its necessary food 1 Have you known 
what it is cordially to surrender yourself to Christ, as a poor 
creature whom love has made his property 1 Have you com- 
mitted your immortal soul to him, that he may purify and save 
it ; that he may govern it by the dictates of his word and 
the influences of his Spirit ; that he may use it for his glory ; 
that he may appoint it to what exercises and discipline he 
pleases, while it dwells here in flesh ; and that he may receive 
it at death, and fix it among those spirits, who with perpet- 
ual songs of praise surround his throne, and are his servants 
forever 1 Have you heartily consented to this % And do you, 
on this account of the matter, renew your consent 1 Do you 
renew it deliberately and determinately, and feel your whole 
soul, as it were, saying Amen, while you read this 1 If this 
be the case, then I can, with great pleasure, give you, as it 
were, the right hand of fellowship, and salute and embrace 
you as a sincere disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ; as one 
who is delivered from the powers of darkness, and is " trans- 
lated into the kingdom of the Son of God." Col. i. 13. I 
can then salute you in the Lord, as one to whom, as a min- 
ister of Jesus, I am commissioned and charged to speak com- 
fortably, and tell you, not that I absolve you from your sins, 
for it is a small matter to be judged of man's judgment, but 
that the blessed God himself absolveth you ; that you are one 
to whom he hath said in his Gospel, and is continually say- 
ing, " Your sins are forgiven you ;" (Luke, vii. 48.) there- 
fore go in peace, and take the comfort of it. 

7. But if you are a stranger to these experiences, and to 
this temper which I have now described, the great work is 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. ]09 

yet undone : you are an impenitent and unbelieving sinner, 
and " the wrath of God abideth on you." John, iii. 36. 
However you may have been awakened and alarmed, what- 
ever resolutions you may have formed for amending your 
life, how right soever your notions may be, how pure soever 
your zeal, how severe soever your mortification, how humane 
soever your temper, how inoffensive soever your life may be, 
I can speak no comfort to you. Vain are all your religious 
hopes, if there has not been a cordial humiliation before the 
presence of God for all your sins ; if there has not been this 
avowed war declared against every thing displeasing to God ; 
if there has not been this sense of your need of Christ, and 
of your ruin without him ; if there "has not been this earnest 
application to him ; this surrrender of your soul into his hands 
by faith ; this renunciation of yourself, that you might fix on 
him the anchor of your hope : if there has not been this un- 
reserved dedication of yourself, to be at all times, and in all 
respects, the faithful servant of God through him ; and if you 
do not with all this acknowledge, that you are an unprofita- 
ble servant, who have no other expectations of acceptance 
or of pardon, but only through his righteousness and blood, 
and through the riches of divine grace in him ; I repeat it to 
you again, that all your hopes are vain, and you are " build- 
ing on the sand." Matt. vii. 26. The house you have al- 
ready raised must be thrown down to the ground, and the 
foundation be removed and laid anew, or you, and all your 
hopes, will shortly be swept away with it, and buried under 
it in everlasting ruin. 

The Soul submitting to Divine Examination the 
Sincerity of its Repentance and Faith. 
" O Lord God ! thou searchest all hearts, and triest the 
reins of the children of men ! Jer. xvii. 10. Search me, 
O Lord, and know my heart ; try me, and and know my 
thoughts ; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and 
lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm exxxix. 23, 24. Doth 
not conscience, O Lord ! testify in thy presence, that my 
repentance and faith are such as have been described, or at 
least that it is my earnest prayer that they may be so 1 
Come, therefore, O thou blessed Spirit ! who art the author 
of all grace and consolation, and work this temper more fully 
in my soul. O represent sin to mine eyes in all its most odi- 
ous colors, that I may feel a mortal and irreconcilable hatred 
to it ! O represent the majesty and mercy of the blessed 



110 RI3E AND PROGRESS OF 






God in such a manner, thai my heart may be alarmed, and 
that it may be melted ! Smite the rock, that the waters may 
flow : (Psalm lxxviii. 20.) waters of genuine, undissembled, 
and filial repentance ! Convince me, O thou blessed Spirit ! 
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment ! John, xvi. 8. 
Show me that I have undone myself; but that my help is 
found in God alone, (Hos. xiii. 9.) in God through Christ, 
in whom alone he will extend compassion and help to me ! 
According to thy peculiar office, take of Christ and show it 
unto me. John, xvi. 15. Show me his power to save ! 
Show me his willingness to exert that power ! Teach my 
faith to behold him as extended on the cross, with open arms, 
with a pierced, bleeding side ; and so telling me, in the most 
forcible language, what room there is in his very heart for 
me ! May I know what it is to have my whole heart sub- 
dued by love ; so subdued as to be crucified with him ; (Rom. 
vi. 6.) to be dead to sin and dead to the world, but alive unto 
God through Jesus Christ. Rom. vi. 11. In his power and 
love may I confide ! To him may I without any reserve 
commit my spirit ! His image may I bear ! His laws may 
I observe ! His service may I pursue ! and may I remain, 
through time and eternity, a monument of the efficacy of his 
Gospel, and a trophy of his victorious grace ! 

" O blessed God ! if there be any thing wanting toward 
constituting me a sincere Christian, discover it to me, and 
work it in me ! Beat down, I beseech thee, every false and 
presumtuous hope, how costly soever that building may have 
been which is thus laid in ruins, and how proud soever I 
may have been of its vain ornaments ! Let me know the 
worst of my case, be that knowledge ever so distressing ; 
and if there be remaining danger, O let my heart be fully 
sensible of it, sensible while yet there is a remedy ! 

" If there be any secret sin yet lurking in my soul, which 
I have not sincerely renounced, discover it to me, and rend 
it out of my heart, though it may have shot its roots ever 
so deep, and have wrapped them all around it, so that every 
nerve shall be pained by the separation ! Tear it away, O 
Lord, by a hand graciously severe ! And by degrees, yea, 
Lord, by speedy advances, go on, I beseech thee, to perfect 
what is still lacking in my faith, 1 Thess. iii. 10. Accom- 
plish in me all the good pleasure of thy goodness. 2 Thess. 
i. 11. Enrich me, O heavenly Father, with all the graces 
of thy Spirit : form me to the complete image of thy dear 
Son ; and then, for his sake, come unto me, and manifest 



RELIGION IK THE SO0L. Ill 

thy gracious presence in my soul, (John, xiv. 21, 23.) till it 
is ripened for that state of glory for which all these opera- 
tions are intended to prepare it. — Amen." 






CHAPTER XIV. 

A MORE PARTICULAR VIEW OF THE SEVERAL BRANCH- 
ES OF THE CHRISTIAN TEMPER, BY WHICH THE 
READER MAY BE FURTHER ASSISTED IN JUDGING 
WHAT HE IS, AND WHAT HE SHOULD ENDEAVOR 
TO BE. 

1, 2. The importance of the case engages to a more particular 
survey what manner of spirit we are of — 3. Accordingly the 
Christian temper is desciibed, by some general views of it, as 
a new and divine temper. — 4. As resembling that of Christ. — 
5. And as engaging us to be spiritually minded, and to walk 
by faith. — 6. A plan of the remainder. — 7. In which the Christ- 
ian temper is more particularly considered— with regard to the 
blessed God : as including fear, affection, and obedience. — 8, 
9. Faith and love to Christ.— 10. Joy in Him.— 11.— 13. And a 
proper temper towards the Holy Spirit, particularly as a spirit 
of adoption and of courage. — 14. With regard to ourselves ; 
as including preference of the soul to the body, humility, puri- 
ty. — 15. Temperance. — 16. Contentment. — 17. And Patience. 
— 18. With regard to our fellow creatures ; as including Love. 
—19. Meekness. — 20. Peaceableness. — 21. Mercy. — 22 .Truth. — 
23. And candor in judging. — 24. General qualifications of each 
branch. — 25.; Such as Sincerity.— 26. Constancy. — 27. Tender- 
ness.— 28. Zeal.— 29. And Prudence.— 30. These things should 
frequently be recollected.— A review of all in a scriptural 
prayer.- 

1. When I consider the infinite importance of eternity, 
I find it exceedingly difficult to satisfy myself in any thing 
which I can say to men, where their eternal interests are 
concerned. I have given you a view, I hope I may truly say, 
a just as well as a faithful view, of a truly Christian temper 
already. Yet, for your further assistance, I would offer it 
to your consideration in various points of light, that you may 
be assisted in judging of what you are, and what you ought 
to be. And in this I aim, not only at your conviction, if you 
are yet a stranger to real religion, but at your further edifi- 
cation, if, by the grace of God, you are by this time exper- 
imentally acquainted with it. Happy you will be, happy 
beyond expression, if, as you go on from one article to an- 



112 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

other, you can say, "This is my temper and character." 
Happy in no inconsiderable degree, if you can say, " This is 
what I desire, what I pray for, and what I pursue, in pref- 
erence to every opposite view, though if. be not what I have 
as yet attained." 

2. Search, then, and try " what manner of spirit you are 
of." Luke, ix. 55. And may he that searcheth all hearts 
direct the. inquiry, and enable you " so to Judge yourself, 
that vou mav not be condemned of the Lord." 1 Cor. xi- 
31, 32. 

Know in the general, " that, if you are a Christian indeed, 
you have been ' renewed in ''the spirit of your mind,' (Eph. 
iv. 23^) so renewed, as to be regenerated and born again." 
It is not enough to have assumed a new name, to have been 
brought under some new restraints, or to have made a par- 
tial change in some particulars of your conduct. The change 
must be great and universal. Inquire, then, whether you have 
entertained new apprehensions of things, have formed a prac- 
tical judgment different from what you formerly did ; whether 
the ends you propose, the affections which you feel working 
in your heart, and the course of action to which, by those 
affections, you are directed, be, on the whole, new or old. 
Again, "If you are a Christian indeed, you are * partaker 
of a divine nature, 5 (2 Peter, i. 4.) divine in its original, its 
tendency, and its resemblance." Inquire, therefore, whether 
God hath implanted a principle in your heart, which tends 
to him, and which makes you like him. Search your soul 
attentively, to see if you have really the image there of God's 
moral perfections, of his holiness and righteousness, his good- 
ness and fidelity; for " the new man is, after God, created 
in righteousness and true holiness," (Eph. iv. 24.) " and is 
renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created 
him." Col. iii. 10. 

4. For your further assistance, inquire, " whether * the 
same mind be in you which was also in Christ.' Phil. ii. 5. 
Whether you bear the image of God's incarnate Son, the 
brightest and fairest resemblance of the Father which heaven 
or earth has ever beheld." The blessed Jesus designed him- 
self to be a model for all his followers ; and he is certainly 
a model most fit for our imitation : an example in our own 
nature, and in circumstances adapted to general use: an ex- 
ample recommended to us at once by its spotless perfection, 
and by the endearing relations in which he stands to us, as 
our Master, our Friend and our Head ; as the person by whom 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 1J3 

our everlasting state is to be fixed, and in resemblance to 
whom our final happiness is to consist, if ever we are happy 
at all. Look, then, into the life and temper of Christ, as 
described and illustrated in the Gospel, and search whether 
you can find any thing like it in your own. Have you any 
thing of his devotion, love, and resignation to God! Any 
thing of his humility, meekness, and benevolence to men! 
Any thing of his purity and wisdom, his contempt of the 
world, his patience, his fortitude, his zeal! And indeed all 
the other branches of the Christian temper, which do not 
imply previous guilt in the person by whom they are exer- 
cised, may be called in to illustrate and assist your inquiries 
under this head. 

5. Let me add, " If you are a Christian, you are in the 
main c spiritually-minded,' as knowing e that is life and 
peace;' whereas, 'to be carnally-minded is death.'" Rom. 
viii. 6. Though you " live in the flesh, you will not war af- 
ter it," (2 Cor. x. 3.) you will not take your orders and your 
commands from it. You will indeed attend to its necessary 
interests as matter of duty ; but it will still be with regard 
to another and a nobler interest, that of the rational and im- 
mortal spirit. Your thoughts, your affections, your pursuits, 
your choice, will be determined by a regard to things spirit- 
ual rather than carnal. In a word, " you will walk by faith, 
and not by sight." 2 Cor. v. 7. Future, invisible, and in 
some degree incomprehensible objects, will take up your mind. 
Your faith will act on the being of God, his perfections, his 
providences, his precepts, his threatenings, and his promises. 
It will act upon Christ, " whom having not seen," you will 
" love and honor." 1 Pet. i. 8. It will act on that unseen 
world, which it knows to be eternal, and therefore infinitely 
more worthy of your affectionate regard, than any of" those 
things which are seen and are temporal." 2 Cor. iv. 18. 

6. These are general views of the Christian temper on 
which I would entreat you to examine yourself; and now I 
would go on to lead you into a survey of the grand branches 
of it, as relating to God, our neighbor, and ourselves; and of 
those qualifications which must attend each of these branches: 
such as sincerity, constancy, tenderness, zeal, and prudence. 
And I beg your diligent attention, Avhile I lay before you a 
few hints with regard to each, by which you may judge the 
better, both of your state and your duty. 

7. Examine, then, I entreat you, r the temper of your 
heart with regard to the blessed God." Do you find there 



114 RISE AWD PROGRESS OF 

a reverential fear, and a supreme love and veneration for his 
incomparable excellences, a desire after him as the highest 
good, and a cordial gratitude towards him as your supreme 
Benefactor'? Can you trust his carel Can you credit his 
testimony 1 Do you desire to pay an unreserved obedience 
to all that he commands, and an humble submission to all the 
disposals of his providence? Do you design his glory as your 
noblest end, and make it the great business of your life to 
approve yourself to him'? Is it your governing care to imi- 
tate him, and to " serve him in spirit and in truth]" John, 
iv. 24. 

8. Faith in Christ I have already described at large, and 
therefore shall say nothing further, either of that persuasion 
of his power and grace, which is the great foundation of it, 
or of that acceptance of Christ under all his characters, or 
that surrender of the soul into his hands, in which its pecul- 
iar and distinguishing nature consists. 

9. If this faith in Christ be sincere, " it will undoubtedly 
produce a love to him:" which will express itself in affec- 
tionate thoughts of him ; in strict fidelity to him ; in a care- 
ful observation of his charge; in a regard to his spirit, to his 
friends, and to his interests; in a reverence to the memorials 
of his dying love which he has instituted ; and in an ardent 
desire after that heavenly world where he dwells, and where 
he will at length " have all his people to dwell with him." 
John, xvii. 2. 

10. I may add, agreeably to the word of God, " that thus 
believing in Christ and loving him, you will also rejoice in 
him:" in his glorious design, and in his complete fitness to 
accomplish it; in the promises of his word, and in the priv- 
ileges of his people. It Mill be matter of joy to you, that 
such a Redeemer has appeared in this world of ours ; and 
your joy for yourself will be proportionable to the degree of 
clearness with which you discern your interest in him, and 
relation to him. 

11. Let me further lead you into some reflections on " the 
temper of your heart towards the blessed Spirit." If " we 
have not the Spirit of Christ, we are none of his." Rom. 
viii. 19. If we are not " led by the Spirit of God, we are 
not the children of God." Rom. viii. 14. You will then, if 
you are a real Christian, desire that you may " be filled with 
the Spirit ; " (Eph. v. 18.) that you may have every power of 
your soul subject to his authority ; that his agency on your 
heart may be more constant, more operative, and more de- 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 115 

lightful. And to cherish these sacred influences, you will of- 
ten have recourse to serious consideration and meditation: 
you will abstain from those sins which tend to grieve him; 
you will improve the tender seasons, in which he seems to 
breathe upon your soul; you will strive earnestly with God 
in prayer, that you may have him " shed on you still more 
abundantly through Jesus Christ ; " (Tit. iii. 6.) and you will 
be desirous to fall in with the great end of his mission, which 
was to " glorify Christ," (John, xvi. 14.) and to establish 
his kingdom. " You will desire his influences as the Spirit 
of adoption,'* to render your acts of worship free and affec- 
tionate, your obedience vigorous, your sorrow for sin over- 
flowing and tender, your resignation meek, and your love ar- 
dent: in a word, to carry you through life and death with the 
temper of a child who delights in his father, and who longs 
for his more immediate presence. . 

12. Once more, " if you are a Christian indeed, you will 
be desirous to obtain the spirit of courage." Amidst all that 
humility of soul to which you will be formed, you will wish 
to commence a hero in the cause of Christ, opposing, with a 
vigorous resolution, the strongest efforts of the powers of 
darkness, the inward corruptions of your own heart, and all 
the outward difficulties you may meet with in the way of your 
duty, while in the cause and in the strength of Christ you go 
on " conquering and to conquer." 

13. All these things may be considered as branches of god- 
liness ; of that godliness which is " profitable unto all things," 
and hath the "promise of the life which now is, and of that 
which is to come." 1 Tim. iv. 8. 

14. Let me now further lay before you some branches of 
the Christian temper " which relate more immediately to 
ourselves." And here, if you are a Christian indeed, you 
will Undoubtedly prefer the soul to the body, and things eter^ 
nal to those that are temporal. Conscious of the dignity and 
value of your immortal part, you will come to a firm resolu- 
tion to secure its happiness, whatever is to be resigned, what- 
ever is to be endured in that view. If you are a real Christ- 
ian, you will be also " clothed with humility." 1 Pet. v. 5. 
You will have a deep sense of your own imperfections, both 
natural and moral ; of the short extent of your knowledge ; 
of the uncertainty and weakness of your resolutions ; and of 
your continual dependence upon God, and upon almost every 
thing about you. And especially will you be deeply sensible 
of your guilt ; the remembrance of which will fill you with 



116 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

shame and confusion, even when you have some reason to 
hope it is forgiven. This will forbid all haughtiness and in- 
solence of your behavior to your fellow-creatures. It will 
teach you, under afflictive providences, with all holy submis- 
sion, to bear the indignation of the Lord, as those that know 
they " have sinned against him." Mic. vii. 9. Again, if you 
are a Christian indeed, " you will labor after purity of soul," 
and maintain a fixed abhorence of all prohibited sensual in- 
dulgence. A recollection of past impurities will fill you with 
shame and grief, and you will endeavor for the future to guard 
your thoughts and desires, as well as your words and actions, 
and to abstain, not only from the commission of evil, but 
" from the" distant " appearance" and probable occasions 
"of it;" (1 Thess. v. 22.) as conscious of the perfect holi- 
ness of that God with whom you converse, and of the " pu- 
rifying nature of that hope," (1 John, iii. 3.) which by his 
Gospel he hath taught you to entertain. 

15. With this is nearly allied, " that amiable virtue of 
temperance," which will teach you to guard against such a 
use of meats and drinks as indisposes the body for the serv- 
ice of the soul ; or such an indulgence in either, as will rob 
you of that precious jewel your time, or occasion an expense 
beyond what your circumstances will admit, and beyond what 
will consist with what you owe to the cause of Christ, and 
those liberalities to the poor, which your relation and theirs 
to God and each other will require. In short, you will guard 
against whatever has a tendency to increase a sensual dispo- 
sition, against whatever would alienate the soul from com- 
munion with God, and would diminish its zeal and activity in 
his service. 

16. The divine philosophy of the blessed Jesus will also 
teach you " a contented temper." It will moderate your de- 
sires of those worldly enjoyments, after which many feel such 
an insatiable thirst, ever growing with indulgence and suc- 
cess. You will guard against an immoderate care about 
those things which would lead you into a forgetfulness of your 
heavenly inheritance. If Providence disappoint your under- 
takings, you will submit; if others be more prosperous, you 
will not envy them, but rather will be thankful for what God 
is pleased to bestow upon them, as well as for what he gives 
you. No unlawful methods will be used to alter your present 
condition ; and whatever it is, you will endeavor to make the 
best of it, remembering it is what infinite wisdom and good- 
ness have appointed you, and that it is beyond all compari- 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 117 

son better than you have deserved ; yea, that the very defi- 
ciencies and inconveniencies of it may conduce to the im- 
provement of your future and complete happiness. 

17. With contentment, if you are a disciple of Christ, 
" you will join patience too," and " in patience will possess 
your soul." Luke, xxi. 19. You cannot indeed be quite 
insensible either of afflictions or injuries ; but your mind will 
be calm and composed under them, and steady in the prose- 
cution of proper duty, though afflictions press, and though 
your hopes, your dearest hopes, and prospects be delayed. 
Patience will prevent hasty and rash conclusions, and fortify 
you against seeking irregular methods of relief; disposing 
you, in the mean time, till God shall be pleased to appear for 
you, to go on steadily in the way of your duty; " committing 
yourself to him in well-doing." 1 Pet. iv. 19. You will 
also be careful that " patience may have its perfect work," 
(James, i. 4.) and prevail in proportion to those circum- 
stances which demand its peculiar exercise. For instance, 
when the successions of evil are long and various, so that 
" deep calls to deep," and " all God's waves and billows 
seem to be going over you," one after another; (Psalm xlii. 
7.) when God touches you in the most tender part ; when the 
reasons of his conduct to you are quite unaccountable; when 
your natural spirits are weak and decayed ; when unlawful 
methods of redress seem near and easy ; still your reverence 
for the will of your heavenly Father will carry it against all, 
and keep you waiting quietly for deliverance in his own time 
and way. 

18. I have thus led you into a brief review of the Christ- 
ian temper, with respect to God and ourselves: permit me 
now to add, " that the Gospel will teach you another set of 
very important lessons with respect to your fellow-creatures." 
They are all summed up in this, " Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bor as thyself;" (Rom. xiii. 9.) and "whatsoever thou 
wouldst, (that is, whatsoever thou couldst, in an exchange of 
circumstances, fairly and reasonably desire), that others should 
do unto thee, do thou likewise the same unto them." Matt, 
vii. 12. The religion of the blessed Jesus, when it triumphs 
in your soul, will conquer the predominacy of an irregular 
self-love, and will teach you candidly and tenderly to look 
upon your neighbor as another self. As you are sensible of 
your own rights, you will be sensible of his: as you support 
your own character, you will support his. You will desire 
his welfare, and be ready to relieve his necessity, as you would 



118 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

have your own consulted by another. You will put the kind- 
est construction upon his most dubious words and actions. 
You will take pleasure in his happiness ; you will feel his dis- 
tress, in some measure as your own. And most happy will 
you be, when this obvious rule is familiar to your mind, when 
this golden law is written upon your heart, and when it is 
habitually and impartially consulted by you, upon every occa- 
sion, whether great or small. 

19. The Gospel will also teach you " to put on meekness,' 
(Col. iii. 12.) not only with respect to God, submitting to 
the authority of his word, and the disposal of his providence, 
as was urged before ; but also with regard to your brethren 
of mankind. Its gentle instructions will form you to calm- 
ness of temper under injuries and provocations, so that you 
may not be angry without, or beyond just cause. It will en- 
gage you to guard your words, lest you provoke and exas- 
perate those you should rather study by love to gain, and by 
tenderness to heal. Meekness will render you slow in using 
any rough and violent methods, if they can by any means be 
lawfully avoided; and ready to admit, and even to propose a 
reconciliation, after they have been entered into, if there may 
yet be hope of succeeding. So far as this branch of the 
Christian temper prevails in your heart, you will take care 
to avoid every thing which might give unnecessary offence to 
others ; you will behave yourself in a modest manner, accord- 
ing to your station; and it will work, both with regard to 
superiors and inferiors, teaching you duly to honor the one, 
and not to overbear or oppress, to grieve or insult the other. 
And in religion itself, it will restrain all immoderate sallies 
and harsh censure ; and will command down " that wrath of 
man, which, instead of working, so often opposes the right- 
eousness of God," (James, i. 20.) and shames and wounds 
that good cause, in which it is boisterously and furiously en- 
gaged. 

20. With this is naturally connected " a peaceful dispo- 
sition." If you are a Christian indeed, you will have such 
a value and esteem for peace, as to endeavor to obtain, and 
to preserve it, " as much as lieth in you," (Rom. xii. 18.) 
as much as you fairly and honorably can. This wilj have 
such an influence upon your conduct, as to make you not only 
cautious of giving offence, and slow in taking it, but earnestly 
desirous to regain peace as soon as may be, when it is in 
any measure broken, that the wound may be healed while it 
'a green, and before it begins to rankle and fester. And 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 119 

more especially, this disposition will engage you "to keep 
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," (Eph. iv. 3.) 
" with all that in every place call on the name of our Lord 
Jesus Christ," (1 Cor. i. 2.) whom if you truly love, you 
will also love all those whom you have reason to believe to 
be his disciples and servants. 

21. If you be yourselves indeed of that number, " you will 
also ' put on bowels of mercy.' " Col. iii. 12. The mercies 
of God, and those of the blessed Redeemer, will work on 
your heart, to mould it to sentiments of compassion and gen- 
erosity, so that you will feel the wants and sorrows of others ; 
you will desire to relieve their necessities; and as you have 
an opportunity, you will do good, both to their bodies and 
their souls ; expressing your kind affections in suitable actions, 
which may both evidence their sincerity and render them 
effectual. 

22. As a Christian, " you will also maintain truth inviola- 
ble," not only in your solemn testimonies, when confirmed by 
an oath, but likewise in common conversation. You will re- 
member, too, that your promises bring an obligation upon you, 
which you are by no means at liberty to break through. On 
the whole, you will be careful to keep a strict correspondence 
between your words and your actions, in such a manner as 
becomes a servant of the God of truth. 

23. Once more, as, amidst the strictest care to observe all 
the divine precepts, you will still find many imperfections, on 
account of which you will be obliged to pray, that " God 
w r ould not enter into strict judgment with you," as well know- 
ing, " that in his sight you cannot be justified, " (Psalm cxliii. 
2.) you will be careful not to judge others " in such a manner 
as should awaken the severity of ' his judgment against your- 
self.' " Matt. vii. 1, 2. You will not, therefore, judge them 
impertinently, when you have nothing to do with their actions; 
nor rashly, without inquiring into circumstances; nor par- 
tially, without weighing them attentively and fairly; nor 
uncharitably, putting the worst construction upon things in 
their own nature dubious; deciding upon intentions as evil, 
further than they certainly appear to be so ; pronouncing on 
the state of men, or on the whole of their character, from 
any particular action, and involving the innocent with the 
guilty. There is a moderation contrary to all these extremes, 
which the Gospel recommends ; and if you receive the Gospel 
in good earnest into your heart, it wiU lay the axe to the 
root of such evils as these. 



120 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

24. Having thus briefly illustrated the principal branches 
of the Christian temper and character, I shall conclude the 
representation, with reminding you of " some general quali- 
fications, which must be mingled with all, and give a tincture 
to each of them; such as sincerity, constancy, tenderness, 
zeal, and prudence." 

25. Always remember, that " sincerity is the very soul of 
true religion." A single intention to please God, and to ap- 
prove ourselves to him, must animate and govern all that we 
do in it. Under the influence of this principle you will im- 
partially inquire into every intimation of duty, and apply to 
the practice of it so far as it is known to you. Your heart 
will be engaged in all you do. Your conduct, in private and 
in secret, will be agreeable to your most public behavior. A 
sense of the Divine authority will teach you " to esteem all 
God's precepts concerning all things to be right, and to hate 
every false way." Psalm cxix. 128. 

26. Thus are you, " in simplicity and godly sincerity, to 
have your conversation in the world." 2 Cor. i. 12. And 
" you are also to charge it upon your soul ' to be stedfast and 
immovable, always abounding, in the work of the Lord. 5 " 
1 Cor. xv. 58. There must not only be some sudden fits and 
starts of devotion, or of something that looks like it, but re- 
ligion must be an habitual and permanenfthing. There must 
be a purpose to adhere to it at all times. It must be made 
the stated and ordinary business of life. Deliberate and 
presumptuous sins must be carefully avoided ; a guard must 
be maintained against the common infirmities of life ; and 
faults of one kind or of another must be matter of proportion- 
able humiliation before God, and must occasion renewed res- 
olution for his service. And thus you are to go on to the 
end of your life, not discouraged by the length and difficulty 
of the way, nor allured on the one hand, or terrified on the 
other, by all the various temptations which may surround and 
assault you. Your soul must be fixed on this basis, and you 
are still to behave yourself as one who knows he serves an 
unchangeable God, and who expects from him " a kingdom 
which cannot be moved." Heb. xii. 28. 

27. Again, so far as the Gospel prevails in your heart, 
" your spirit will be tender, and the stone will be transformed 
into flesh." You will desire that your apprehensions of di- 
vine things may be quick, your affections ready to take prop- 
er impressions, your conscience always easily touched, and, 
on the whole, your resolutions pliant to the divine authority. 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 121 

and cordially willing to be, and to do, whatever God shall 
appoint. You will have a tender regard to the word of God., 
a tender caution against sin, a tender guard against the snares 
of prosperity, a tender submission to God's afflicting hand: 
in a word, you will be tender wherever the divine honor is 
concerned; and careful, neither to do any thing yourself, nor 
to allow any thing in another, so far as you can influence, by 
which God should be offended, or religion reproached. 

28. Nay, more than all this, you will, so far as true Christ- 
ianity governs in your mind, " exert a holy zeal in the serv- 
ice of your Redeemer and your Father." You will be 
" zealously affected in every good thing," (Gal. iv. 18.) in pro- 
portion to its apprehended goodness and importance. You 
will be zealous, especially, to correct what is irregular in your- 
self, and to act to the utmost of your ability for the cause of 
God. Nor will you be able to look with an indifferent eye 
on the conduct of others in this view ; but, so far as charity, 
meekness, and prudence will admit, you will testify your dis- 
approbation of every thing in it which is dishonorable to God 
and injurious to men. And you will labor, not only to reclaim 
men from such courses, but to engage them to religion, and 
quicken them in it. 

29. And once more, you will desire " to use the prudence 
which God hath given you," in judging what is, in present 
circumstances, your duty to God, your neighbor, and yourself; 
what will be, on the whole, the most acceptable manner of 
discharging it, and how far it may be most, advantageously 
pursued; as remembering, that he is indeed the wisest and 
the happiest man, who, by constant attention of thought, dis- 
covers the greatest opportunities of doing good, and with ar- 
dent and animated resolution breaks through every opposition, 
that he may improve those opportunities. 

30. This is such a view of the Christian temper, as could 
conveniently be thrown within such narrow limits; and I 
hope it may assist many in the great and important work of 
self-examination. Let your own conscience answer, how far 
you have already attained it, and how far you desire it ; and let 
the principal topics here touched upon be fixed in your mem- 
ory and in your heart, that you may be mentioning them be- 
fore God in your daily addresses to the throne of grace, in 
order to receive from him all necessary assistance for bring- 
ing them into practice. 



11 



122 RISE AND PROGRESS OT 

A Prayer, chiefly in Scripture Language, in wkick the 
several Branches of the Christian Temper are more 
briefly enumerated in the order laid down above. 
" Blessed God, I humbly adore thee, as the great Father 
of lights, and the Giver of every good and every perfect gift. 
James, i. 17. From thee, therefore, I seek every blessing, 
and especially those which may lead me to thyself, and prepare 
me for the eternal enjoyment of thee. I adore thee as the God 
who searches the hearts and tries the reins of the children of 
men. Jer. xvii. 10. Search me, O God, and know my heart ; 
try me, and know my thoughts ; and see if there be any wick- 
ed w-ay in me, and lead me in the w r ay everlasting. Psal. 
cxxxix. 23, 24. May I know what manner of spirit I am 
of, (Luke, ix. 55.) and be preserved from mistaking, where 
the error might be infinitely fatal ! 

" May I, O Lord, be renewed in the spirit of my mind. 
Eph. iv. 24. A new heart do thou give me, and a new spirit 
do thou put within me. Ezek. xxxiv. 26. Make me partak- 
er of divine nature ; (2 Pet. i. 4.) and as he who hath called 
me is holy, may I be holy in all manner of conversation. 
I Fet. i. 15. May the same mind be in me which was also 
in Christ Jesus; (Phil. ii. 5.) may I so walk even as he 
tvalked. 1 John, ii. 6. Deliver me from being carnally -mind- 
ed, whicb is death ; and make me spiritually-minded, since 
that is life and peace. Rom. viii. 6. And may I, while I 
pass through this world of sense, walk by faith, and not by- 
sight, (2 Cor. v. 7.) and be strong in faith, giving glory to 
God. Rom. iv. 20. 

" May thy grace, O Lord, which hath appeared unto all 
men, and appeared to me with such glorious evidence and 
lustre, effectually teach me to deny ungodliness and worldly 
lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly. Tit. ii. 11, 
12. Work in my heart that godliness which is profitable 
unto all things; (1 Tim. iv. 8.) and teach me, by the influ- 
ence of thy blessed Spirit, to love thee, the Lord my God, 
with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind, 
and with all my strength. Mark, xii. 30. May I yield my- 
self unto thee, as alive from the dead, (Rom. vi. 13.) and 
present my body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable in thy 
»i^ht, which is my most reasonable service! Rom. xii. 1. 
May I entertain the most faithful and affectionate regard to 
iesscd Jesus, thine incarnate Son, the brightness of thy 
gl ry, and the express image of thy person. Heb. i. 3. Though 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 123 

I have not seen him, may I love him; and in him, though 
now I see him not, yet believing, may I rejoice with joy un- 
speakable and full of glory, (1 Pet. i, 8) and may the life 
which I live in the flesh, be daily by the faith of the Son of 
GoJ. Gal. ii. 20. May I be filled with the Spirit, (Eph. v. 
18.) and may I be led by it; (Rom. viii. 14.) and so may i: 
be evident to others, and especially to my own soul, that I am 
a child of God, and an heir of glory. May I not receive the 
spirit of bondage unto fear, but the spirit of adoption, where- 
by I may be enabled to cry, Abba, Father. Rom. viii. 15- 
May he work in me, as the spirit of love, and of power, and 
of a sound mind, (2 Tim. i. 17.) that so I may add to my 
faith virtue. 2 Pet. i. 5. May I be strong, and very coura- 
geous, (Josh. i. 7.) and quit myself like a man, (1 Cor. xiv, 
13.) and like a Christian, in the work to which I am called;, 
and in that warfare which I had in view when I listed under 
the banner of the great Captain of my salvation.. 

M Teach me, O Lord, seriously to consider the nature of 
my own soul, and to set a suitable value upon it. May I la- 
bor, not only or chiefly, for the meat that perisheth, but for 
that which endureth to eternal life.. John. vi. 27. May I 
humble myself under thy mighty hand, and be clothed with 
humility, (1 Pet. v. 5, 6.) decked with the ornament of a. 
meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great 
price. 1 Pet. iii. 4. May I be pure in heart, that I may 
see God, (Matt. v. 8.) mortifying my members which are on 
the earth, (Col. iii. 5.) so that if a' right eye offend me, I 
may pluck it out, and if a right hand offend me, I may cut 
it off. Matt. v. 29, 80. May I be temperate in all things, 
(1 Cor. ix. 25.) content with such things as I have, (FLeb, 
xiii. 5.) and instructed to be so in whatever state I am. Phil, 
iv. 11. May patience also have its perfect work in me, that 
I may be in that respect complete, and wanting nothing, 
James, i. 4. 

" Form me, O Lord, I beseech thee, to a proper temper to- 
ward my fellow-creatures! May I love my neighbor as 
myself, (Gal. v. 14.) and whatsoever I would that others should 
do unto me, may I also do the same unto them. Matt. vii. 12. 
May I put on meekness under the greatest injuries and prov- 
ocations, (Col. iii. 12.) and, if it be possible, as much as lieth 
in me, may I live peaceably with all men. Rom. xii. 18.. 
May 1 be merciful, as my Father in heaven is merciful. Luke 3 
vi. 36. May I speak the truth from my heart; (Psalm xv, 
2,) and may I speak it in love, (Eph. iv. 15.) guarding against 



124 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

every instance of a censorious and malignant disposition ; and 
taking care not to judge severely, as I would not be judged 
with the severity which thou, Lord, knowest, and which mine 
own conscience knows, I should not be able to support. 

" I entreat thee, O Lord, to work in me all those qualifi- 
cations of the Christian temper, which may render it pecu- 
liarly acceptable to thee, and may prove ornamental to my 
profession in the world. Renew, I beseech thee, a right 
spirit within me, (Psalm li. 10.) make me an Israelite indeed, 
in whom there is no allowed guile. John, i. 47. And while 
I feast on Christ, as my passover sacrificed for me, may I 
keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and 
truth. 1 Cor. v. 7, 8. Make me, I beseech the, O thou Al- 
mighty and unchangeable God! stedfast and immovable, al- 
ways abounding in thy work, as knowing that my labor in 
the Lord shall not be finally in vain. 1 Cor. xv. 58. May 
my heart be tender, (2 Kings, xvii. 19.) easily impressed with 
thy word and providence, touched with an affectionate con- 
cern for thy glory, and sensible of every impulse of thy Spirit. 
May I be zealous for my God, (Numb. xxv. 13.) with a zeal 
according to knowledge and charity, (1 Cor. xiv. 14.) and 
teach me in thy service to join the wisdom of the serpent 
with the boldness of the lion and the innocence of the dove. 
Matt. x. 16. Thus render me, by thy grace, a shining image 
of my dear Redeemer; and at length bring me to wear the 
bright resemblance of his holiness and his glory, in that world 
where he dwells ; that I may ascribe everlasting honors to 
him, and to thee, O thou Father of mercies, whose invalua- 
ble gift he is, and to thine Holy Spirit, through whose gra- 
cious influence, I would humbly hope, I may call thee my 
Father, and Jesus my Savior! Amen." 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 125 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE READER REMINDED HOW MUCH HE NEEDS THE 
ASSISTANCE OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO FORM HIM TO 
THE TEMPER DESCRIBED ABOVE, AND WHAT EN- 
COURAGEMENT HE HAS TO EXPECT IT. 

1. Forward resolutions may prove ineffectual. — 2. Yet religion 
is not to be given up in despair, but Divine grace to be sought. 
— 3. A general view of its reality and necessity, from reason. 
— 4. And Scripture. — 5. The Spirit to be sought as the Spirit 
of Christ. — 6. And in that view the great strength of the soul. 
— 7. The encouragement there is to hope for the communication 
of it. — 8. A concluding exhortation to pray for it. And an 
humble address to God pursuant to that exhortation. 

1. I have now laid before you a plan of that temper and 
character which the Gospel requires, and which, if you are 
a true christian, you will desire and pursue. Surely there 
is, in the very description of it, something which must pow- 
erfully strike every mmd which has any taste for what is 
truly beautiful and excellent. And I question not, but you, 
my dear reader, will feel some impression of it upon your 
heart. You will immediately form some lively purpose of 
endeavoring after it; and perhaps you may imagine, you 
shall certainly and quickly attain to it. You see how rea- 
sonable it is, and what desirable consequences necessarily 
attend it, and the aspect which it bears on your present en- 
joyment and your future happiness ; and therefore are deter- 
mined you will act accordingly. But give me leave seriously 
to remind you, how many there have been, (would to God 
that several such instances had not happened within the 
compass of my own personal observation !) whose goodness 
hath been " like a morning cloud and the early dew," 
which soon passeth away." Hos. vi. 4. There is not room 
indeed absolutely to apply the words of Joshua, taken in the 
most rigorous sense, when he said to Israel, that he might 
humble their too hasty and sanguine resolutions, " You can- 
not serve the Lord." Josh. xxiv. 12. But I will venture to 
say, you cannot easily do it. Alas ! you know not the 
difficulties you have to break through ; you know not the 
temptations which Satan will throw in your way; you know 
not how importunate your vain and sinful companions will 
be, to draw you back into the snare you may attempt to 
break ; and, above all, you know not the subtle artifices 



126 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

which your own corruptions will practice upon you in order 
to recover their dominion over you. You think the views 
you now have of things will be lasting, because the priciplej 
and objects to which they refer are so ; but perhaps to 
morrow may undecieve you, or rather deceive you anew : 
to-morrow may present some trifle in a new dress, which 
shall amuse you into a forgetfulness of all this. Nay, per- 
haps before you lie down on your bed, the impressions you 
now feel may wear off. The corrupt desires of your own 
heart, now perhaps a little charmed down, and lying as if 
they were dead, may spring up again with new violence, 
as if they had slept only to recruit their vigor ; and if you 
are not supported by a better strength than your own, this 
struggle for liberty will only make your future chains the 
heavier, the more shameful, and the more fatal. 

2. What then is to be done 1 Is the convinced sinner to 
lie down in despair 1 to say, " I am a helpless captive, and 
by exerting myself with violence, may break my limbs sooner 
than my bonds, and increase the evil I would remove." 
God forbid ! You cannot, I am persuaded, be so little ac- 
quainted with Christianity, as not to know, " that the doc- 
trine of divine assistance bears a very considerable part in 
it." You have often, I doubt not, read of " the law of the 
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, as making us free from the law 
of sin and death," (Rom. viii. 2.) and have been told, 
" that through the Spirit we mortify the deeds of the body." 
Rom. viii. 13. You have read of " doing all things through 
Christ, who strengtheneth us," (Phil. iv. 15.) whose grace 
" is sufficient for us," and whose " strength is made perfect 
in weakness." 2 Cor. xii. 9. Permit me, therefore, now 
to call your attention to this, as a truth of the clearest evi- 
dence, and of the utmost importance. 

3. Reason, indeed, as well as the whole tenor of Scrip- 
ture, agrees with this.* The whole created world has 
a necessary dependence on God ; from him even the knowl- 
edge of " natural things" is derived, (Psalm xciv. 10.) and 
" skill in them is to be ascribed to him." Exod. xxxi. 
3 — 6. Much more loudly does so great and excellent a work, 
as the new-forming the human mind, bespeak its divine Au- 
thor. When you consider how various the branches of the 
Christian temper are, and how contrary many of them also 



* See many of these thoughts much more largely illustrated in 
my Vlllth Sermon on Regeneration, 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 127 

are to that temper, which hath prevailed in your heart, and 
governed your life in time past, you must really see divine 
influences as necessary to produce and nourish them, as the 
influences of the sun and rain are to call up the variety of 
plants and flowers, and grain and fruits, by which the earth 
is adorned, and our life supported. You will be yet more 
sensible of this, if you reflect on the violent opposition which 
this happy work must expect to meet with ; of which I shall 
presently warn you more largely, and which if you have not 
already experienced, it must be because you have but very 
lately begun to think of religion. 

4. Accordingly, if you give yourself leave to consult Scrip- 
ture on this head, (and if you would live like a Christian, 
you must be consulting it every day, and forming your no- 
tions and actions by it,) you will see, that the whole tenor 
of it teaches that dependence upon God which I am now 
recommending. You will particularly see, that the produc- 
tion of religion in the soul is matter of divine promise; 
that when it has been effected, Scripture ascribes it to a 
divine agency ; and that the increase of grace and piety in 
the heart of those who are truly unregenerate, is also spoken 
of as the work of God, who begins and " carries it on until 
the day of Jesus Christ." Phil. i. 6. 

5. In consequence of all these views, lay it down to your- 
self as a most certain principle, that no attempt in religion 
is to be made in your own strength. If you forget this, and 
God purposes finally to save you, he will humble you by re- 
peated disappointments, till he teach you better. You will 
be ashamed of one scheme and effort, and of another, till you 
settle upon the true basis. He will also probably show you, 
not only in the general, that your strength is to be derived 
from heaven, but particularly, that it is the office of the bless- 
ed Spirit to purify the heart, and to invigorate holy resolu- 
tions ; and also that, in all these operations, he is to be con- 
sidered as the Spirit of Christ, working under his direction, 
and as a vital communication from him under the character 
of the great Head of the Church, and the grand Treasurer 
and Dispenser of these holy and beneficial influences. On 
which account it is called " the supply of the Spirit of Jesus 
Christ, ,, (Phil. i. 19.) who is " exalted at the right hand" 
of the Father, "to give repentance and remission of sins," 
(Acts, v. 31.) " in whose grace alone we can be strong," 
(2 Tim. ii. 1.) and " of whose fulness we receive even grace 
for <n*ace." John i. 16. 



128 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

6. Resolve, therefore, strenuously, for the service of G 
and for the care of your soul : but " resolve modestly ; 
humbly." Even " the youths shall faint and be weary, and 
the young men utterly fall ; but they who wait on the Lord," 
are the persons who " renew their strength." Isa. xl. 30, 31. 
When a soul is almost afraid to declare, in the presence of 
the Lord, that it will not do this or that, which has formerly 
offended him ; when it is afraid absolutely to promise that it 
will perform this or that duty with vigor and constancy, but 
only expresses its humble and earnest desire, that it may by 
grace be enabled to avoid the one or pursue the other ; then, 
so far as my observation and experience have reached, it is 
in the best way to learn the happy art of conquering tempta- 
tion, and of discharging the duty. 

7. On the other hand, let not your dependence upon this 
Spirit, and your sense of your own weakness and insuffi- 
ciency for any thing spiritually good without his continual 
aid, discourage you from devoting yourself to God, and en- 
gaging in a religious life, considering " what abundant rea- 
son you have to hope, that these gracious influences will be 
communicated to you." The light of nature, at the same 
time that it teaches the need we have of help from God in a 
virtuous course, may lead us to conclude, that so benevolent 
a Being, who bestows on the most unworthy and careless 
part of mankind so many blessings, will take a peculiar 
pleasure in communicating to such as humbly ask them, 
those gracious assistances, which may form their deathless 
souls into his own resemblance, and fit them for that happi- 
ness to which their rational nature is suited, and for which 
it was in its first constitution intended. The word of God 
will much more abundantly confirm such a hope. You there 
hear divine wisdom crying even to those who had long trifled 
with her instructions, " Turn ye at my reproof, and I will 
pour out my spirit upon you." Prov. i. 23. You hear the 
apostle saying, " Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, 
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every 
time of need." Heb. iv. 16. Yea, you there hear our Lord 
himself arguing in this sweet and convincing manner : "If 
ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your child- 
ren, how much more shall your heavenly Father give his 
Holy Spirit to them that ask him!" Luke, xi. 13. This 
gift and promise of the Spirit was given unto Christ when 
he ascended up on high, in trust for all his true disciples. 
God hath " shed it abroad abundantly upon us in him." 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 129 

Tit. iii. 6. And I may add, that the very desire you feel 
after the further communication of the Spirit, is the result 
of the first fruits of it already given ; so that you may, with 
peculiar propriety, interpret it as a special call " to open 
your mouth wide that he may fill it." Psalm lxxxi. 10. 
You thirst, and therefore you may cheerfully plead, that 
Jesus has " invited you to come unto him and drink ;" with 
a promise, not only that you shall drink if you come unto 
him, but also that "out of your belly shall flow," as it were, 
" rivers of living water," for the edification and refreshment 
of others. John, vii. 37, 38. 

8. Go forth, therefore, with humble cheerfulness, to the 
prosecution of all the duties of the Christian life. Go and 
prosper " in the strength of the Lord, making mention of his 
righteousness, and of his only." Psalm lxxi. 16. And as 
a token of further communications, may your heart be 
quickened to the most earnest desire after the blessings I 
have been now recommending to your pursuit ! May you be 
stirred up to pour out your soul before God in such holy 
breathings as these ! and may they be your daily language in 
his gracious presence ! 

An humble Supplication for the Influences of Divine 
Ch^ace, to form and strengthen Religion in the Soul. 
" Blessed God ! I sincerely acknowledge before thee my 
own weakness and insufficiency for any thing that is spirit- 
ually good. I have experienced it a thousand times ; and 
yet my foolish heart would again ( trust itself,' (Prov. xxviii. 
26.) and form resolutions in its own strength. But let this 
be the first fruits of thy gracious influence upon it, to bring 
it to an humble distrust of itself, and to a repose on thee ! 

" Abundantly do I rejoice, O Lord, in the kind assurances 
which thou givest me of thy readiness to bestow liberally 
and richly so great a benefit. I do therefore, according to 
thy condescending invitation, come with boldness to the 
tin-one of grace, that I may find grace to help in every time 
of need. Heb. iv. 16. I mean not, O Lord God, to turn thy 
grace into wantonness or perverseness, (Jude, ver. 4.) or to 
make my weakness an excuse for negligence and sloth. I 
confess thou hast already given me more strength than I 
have used ; and I charge it upon myself, and not on thee, 
that I have not long since received still more abundant sup- 
plies. 1 desire for the future to be found diligent in the use 
of all appointed means ; in the neglect of which I well know 

12 



130 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

that petitions like these would be a profane mockery, and 
might more probably provoke theft to take away what I have, 
than prevail upon thee to impart more. But firmly resolving 
to exert myself to the utmost, I earnestly entreat the com- 
munications of thy grace, that I may be enabled to fulfil that 
resolution. 

"Be surety, O Lord ! unto thy servant for good. Psalm 
cxix. 122. Be pleased to shed abroad thy sanctifying in- 
fluences on my soul, to form me for every duty thou requirest. 
Implant, I beseech thee, every grace and virtue deep in my 
heart, and maintain the happy temper in the midst of those 
assaults, from within and from without, to which I am con- 
tinually liable while I am still in this world and carry about 
with me so many infirmities. Fill my breast, I beseech thee, 
with good affections towards thee, my God, and towards my 
fellow-creatures. Remind me always of thy presence, and 
may I remember, that every secret sentiment of my soul is 
open to thee. May I therefore guard against the first risings 
of sin, and the first approaches to it ; and that Satan may 
not find room for his evil suggestions, I earnestly beg that 
thou, Lord, wouldst fill my heart with thine Holy Spirit, and 
take up thy residence there. Dwell in me, and walk with 
me, (2 Cor. vi. 16.) and let my body be the temple of the 
Holy Ghost. 1 Cor. vi. 19. 

" May I be so joined to Christ Jesus my Lord, as to be 
one spirit with him, (1 Cor. vi. 17.) and feel his invigorating 
influences continually bearing me on, superior to every temp- 
tation, and to every corruption ; that while the youths shall 
faint and be weary, and the young men utterly fall, I may 
so wait upon the Lord as to renew my strength, (Isai. xl. 
30, 31.) and may go on from one degree of faith, and love, 
and zeal, and holiness, to another, till I appear perfect be- 
fore thee in Zion, (Psalm lxxxiv. 7.) to drink in immortal 
vigor and joy from thee, as the everlasting fountain of both, 
through Jesus Christ my Lord, in whom I have righteous- 
ness and strength, (Isa. xlv. 24.) and to whom I desire ever 
to ascribe the praise of all my improvements in both. Amen." 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 131 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE CHRISTIAN CONVERT WARNED OF, AND ANIMAT- 
ED AGAINST, THOSE DISCOURAGEMENTS WHICH 
HE MUST EXPECT TO MEET, WHEN ENTERING ON A 
RELIGIOUS COURSE. 

1. Christ has instructed his disciples to expect opposition and 
difficulty in the way to heaven. — 2. Therefore, a more par- 
ticular view of them is taken, as arising— from the remainder 
of indwelling sin. — 3. From the world, and especially from 
former sinful companions. — 4. From the temptations and sug- 
gestions of Satan. — 5, 6. The Christian is animated and en- 
couraged, by various considerations, to oppose them ; partic- 
ularly by the presence of God ; the aids of Christ ; the example 
of others, who, though feeble, have conquered ; and the crown 
of glory to be expected. — Therefore, though apostacy be infi- 
nitely fatal, the Christian may press on cheerfully. Accord- 
ingly the soul, alarmed by these views, is represented as com- 
mitting itself to God, in the prayer which concludes the 
chapter. 

1. With the utmost propriety has our Divine Master re- 
quired us "to strive to enter in at the strait gate," (Luke, 
xiii. 23.) thereby intimating, not only that the passage is 
narrow, but that it is beset with enemies ; beset on the right 
hand and on the left with enemies cunning and formidable. 
And be assured, O reader ! that, whatever your circumstan- 
ces in life are, you must meet and encounter them. It will 
therefore be your prudence to survey them attentively in 
your own reflections, that you may see what you are to ex- 
pect ; and may consider in what armor it is necessary you 
should be clothed, and with what weapons you must be fur- 
nished to manage the combat. You have often heard them 
marshalled, as it were, under three great leaders, the flesh, 
the world, and the devil ; and, according to this distribution, 
I would call you to consider the forces of each, as setting 
themselves in array against you. O that you may be excited 
" to take to yourself the whole armor of God," (Eph. vi. 13.) 
and to " acquit yourself like a man," and a Christian ! 
1 Cor. xvi. 13. 

2. Let your conscience answer, whether you do not carry 
about with you a corrupt and degenerate nature 1 You will, 
I doubt not, feel its effects. You will feel, in the language 
of the apostle, who speaks of it as the case of Christians 
themselves, " the flesh lusting against the spirit, so that you , 



132 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

will not be able," in all instances, " to do the things that 
you would." Gal. v. 17. You brought irregular propensi- 
ties into the world along with you ; and you have so often 
indulged those sinful inclinations, that you have greatly in- 
creased their strength ; and you will find, in consequence of 
it, that these habits cannot be broken through without great 
difficulty. You will, no doubt, often recollect the strong 
figures in which the prophet describes a case like yours ; and 
you will own, that it is justly represented by that " of an 
Ethiopian changing his skin, and the leopard his spots." 
Jer, xiii. 23. It is indeed possible, that, at first, you may 
find such an edge and eagerness upon your spirits, as may 
lead you to imagine that all opposition will immediately fall 
before you. But, alas ! I fear that in a little time these 
enemies, which seemed to be slain at your feet, will revive, 
and recover their weapons, and renew the assault in one 
form or another. And perhaps your most painful combats 
may be with such as you had thought most easy to be van- 
quished, and your greatest danger may arise from some of 
those enemies from whom you apprehended the least, par- 
ticularly from pride and from indolence of spirit ; from a se- 
cret alienation of heart from God, and from an indisposition 
for conversing with him, through an immoderate attachment 
to " things seen and temporal," which may be oftentimes 
exceedingly dangerous to your salvation, though perhaps they 
be not absolutely and universally prohibited. In a thousand 
of these instances you must learn to deny yourself, or you 
"cannot be Christ's disciple." Matt. xvi. 24. 

3. You must also lay your account to find great difficulties 
from the world, from its manners, customs, and examples. 
The things of the world will hinder you one way, and the 
men of the world another. Perhaps you may meet with much 
less assistance in religion than you are now ready to expect 
from good men. The present generation of them is generally 
so cautious to avoid every thing that looks like ostentation, 
and there seems something so insupportably dreadful in the 
charge of enthusiasm, that you will find most of your Christ- 
ian brethren studying to conceal their virtue and their piety, 
much more than others study to conceal their vices and their 
profaneness. But while, unless your situation be singularly 
happy, you meet with very little* aid one way, you will, no 
doubt, find great opposition another. The enemies of relig- 
ion will be bold and active in their assaults, while many of 
it* friends seem unconcerned; and one sinner will probably 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 133 

exert himself more to corrupt you, than ten Christians to se- 
cure and save you. They who have b#en once your compan- 
ions in sin, will try a thousand artful methods to allure you 
back again to their forsaken society : some of them perhaps 
with an appearance of tender fondness, and many more by the 
almost irresistible art of ridicule: that boasted test of right 
and wrong, as it has been wantonly called, will be tried upon 
you, perhaps without any regard to decency, or even to com- 
mon humanity. You will be derided and insulted by those 
whose esteem and affection you naturally desire ; and may 
find much more propriety than you imagine, in that expres- 
sion of the apostle, " the trial of cruel niockings," (Heb. xi. 
36.) which some fear more than either sword or flames. 
This persecution of the tongue you must expect to go through, 
and perhaps may be branded as a lunatic, for no other cause 
than that you now begin to exercise your reason to purpose, 
and will not join with those that are destroying their own 
souls in their wild career of folly and madness. 

4. And it is not at all improbable, that in the mean time 
Satan may be doing his utmost to discourage and distress you. 
He will, no doubt, raise in your imagination the most tempt- 
ing idea of the gratifications, the indulgences, and the com- 
panions you are obliged to forsake; and give you the most 
discouraging and terrifying view of the difficulties, severities, 
and dangers, which are, as he will persuade you, inseparable 
from religion. He will not fail to represent God himself, the 
fountain of goodness and happiness, as a hard Master, whom 
it is impossible to please. He will perhaps fill you with the 
most distressful fears, and, with cruel and insolent malice, 
glory over you as his slave, when he knows you are the Lord's 
treeman. At one time he will study, by his vile suggestioas, 
to interrupt you in your duties, as if they gave him an addi- 
tional power over you. At another time he will endeavor to 
weary you of your devotion, by influencing you to prolong it 
to an immoderate and tedious length, lest his power should 
be exerted upon you when it ceases. In short, this practiced 
deceiver has artifices which it would require whole volumes 
to display, with particular cautions against each. And he 
will follow you with malicious arts and pursuits to the very 
end of your pilgrimage, and will leave no method unattempt- 
ed which may be likely to weaken your hands, and to sadden 
your heart, that if, through the gracious interposition of God, 
he cannot prevent your final happiness, he may at least impair 
your peace and your usefulness as you are passing to it. 



134 RISE AND PROGRESS OP 

5. This is what the people of God feel, and what you will 
feel in some degree o* other, if you have your lot and portion 
among them. But, after all, be not discouraged: Christ is 
the "Captain of your salvation." Heb. ii. 10. It is delight- 
ful to consider him under this view. When we take a sur- 
vey of these hosts of enemies, we may lift up our head amidst 
them all, and say, " More and greater is he that is with us, 
than all those that are against us." 2 Kings, vi. 16. " Trust 
in the Lord, and you will be like Mount Zion, which cannot 
be removed, but abideth forever." Psalm cxxv. 1. When 
your enemies press upon you, remember you are to " fight in the 
presence of God." Zech. x. 5. Endeavor, therefore, to act 
a gallant and a resolute part ; endeavor to " resist them stead- 
fast in the faith." 1 Pet. v. 9. Remember, " He can give 
power to the faint, and increase strength to them that have 
no might." Isai. xl. 29. He hath done it in ten thousand 
instances already, and he will do it in ten thousand more. 
How many striplings have conquered their gigantic foes in 
all their most formidable armor, when they have gone forth 
against them, though but as it were " with a staff and a sling, 
in the name of the Lord God of Israel!" 1 Sam. xvii. 40-— 
45. How many women and children have trodden down the 
force of the enemy, "and out of weakness have been made 
strong!" Heb. xi. 34. 

6. Amidst all the opposition of earth and hell, look upward 
and look forward, and you will feel your heart animated by 
the view. Your General is near : he is near to aid you, he 
is near to reward you. When you feel the temptation press 
the hardest, think of him who endured even the cross itself 
for your rescue. View the fortitude of your Divine Leader, 
and endeavor to march on in his steps. Hearken to his voice, 
for he proclaims it aloud, " Behold, I come quickly, and my 
reward is with me." Rev. xxii. 12. "Be thou faithful unto 
death, and I will give thee a crown of life." Rev. ii. 10. 
And, oh! how bright will itfhine! and how long will its lus- 
tre last! When the gems that adorn the crowns of monarchs, 
and pass (instructive thought!) from one royal head to anoth- 
er through succeeding centuries, are melted down in the last 
flame, it is " a crown of glory which fadeth not away." 
1 Pet. v. 4. 

7. It is indeed true, " that such as turn aside to crooked 
paths" will be " led forth with the workers of iniquity," to 
that terrible execution, which divine justice is preparing for 
them, (Psalm cxxv. 5.) and it would have been "better for 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 135 

them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after 
having known it, to turn aside from the holy commandment." 
2 Pet. ii. 21. But I would, by divine grace, " hope better 
things of you." Heb. vi. 9. And I make it my hearty prayer 
for you, my reader, that you may be " kept by the mighty 
power of God," kept, as in a garrison on all sides fortified 
in the securest manner, "through faith unto salvation." 

The Soul, alarmed by a sense of these difficulties, com- 
mitting itself to Divine Protection. 
" Blessed God! it is to thine Almighty power that I flee. 
Behold me surrounded with difficulties and dangers, and 
stretch out thine omnipotent arm to save me, £ O thou that 
savest by thy right hand them that put their trust in thee, 
from those that rise up against them. 3 Psalm xvii. 7. This 
day do I solemnly put myself under thy protection : exert thy 
power in my favor, and permit me ■ to make the shadow of 
thy wings my refuge.' Psalm Ivii. 1. Let f thy grace be suf- 
ficient for me,' and ' thy strength be made perfect in my weak- 
ness.' 2 Cor. xii. 9. I dare not say, ' I will never forsake 
thee, I will never deny thee;' (Mark, xiv. 31.) but I hope I 
can truly say, O Lord, I would not do it ; and that according 
to my present apprehension and purpose, death would appear 
to me much less terrible, than in any wilful and deliberate 
instance to offend thee. O root out those corruptions from 
my heart, which in an hour of pressing temptation might in- 
cline me to view things in a different light, and so might be- 
tray me into the hands of the enemy! Strengthen my faith, 
O Lord, and encourage my hope! Inspire me with heroic 
resolution in opposing every thing that lies in my way to 
heaven ; and let me ■ set my face like a flint' against all the 
assaults of earth and hell ! Isai. 1. 7. * If sinners entice me, 
let me not consent;' (Prov. i. 10.) if they insult me, let me 
not regard it; if they threaten me, let me not fear! Rather 
may a holy and ardent, yet prudent and well-governed zeal, 
take occasion from that malignity of heart which they discov- 
er, to attempt their conviction and reformation! At least, let 
me never be ashamed to plead thy cause against the most pro- 
fane deriders of religion ! e Make me to hear joy and glad- 
ness' in my soul, and I will endeavor to ' teach transgressors 
thy ways, that sinners may be converted unto thee!' Psalm 
li. 8, 13. Yea, Lord, while my fears continue, though I 
should apprehend myself condemned, I am condemned so 
righteously for my own folly, that I would be thine advocate, 
though against myself. 



136 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

"Keep me, O Lord, now, and at all times! Never let 
me think, whatever age or station I attain, that I am strong 
enough to maintain the combat without thee! Nor let me 
imagine myself, even in this infancy of religion in my soul, 
so weak that thou canst not support me! Wherever thou 
leadest me, there let me follow ; and whatever station thou 
appointest me, there let me labor : there let me maintain the 
holy war against all the enemies of my salvation, and rather 
fall in it, than basely abandon it. 

"And thou, O glorious Redeemer, * the Captain of my sal- 
vation,' the great i Author and Finisher of my faith,' (Heb. 
xii. 2.) when I am in danger of denying thee, as Peter did, 
look upon me with that mixture of majesty and tenderness, 
(Luke, xxii. 61.) which may either secure me from falling, 
or may speedily recover me to God and my duty again! and 
teach me to take occasion, even from my miscarriages, to 
humble myself more deeply for all that has been amiss, and 
to redouble my future diligence and caution! Amen." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE CHRISTIAN URGED TO, AND ASSISTED IN, AN EX- 
PRESS ACT OF SELF-DEDICATION TO THE SERVICE 

OF GOD. 

1. The advantages of such a surrender are briefly suggested. — 
2, 3, 4. Advice for the manner of doing it j that it be deliber- 
ate, cheerful, entire, perpetual.— 5. And that it be expressed 
with some affecting solemnity. — 6. A written instrument to be 
signed and declared before God, at some season of extraordi- 
nary devotion, proposed. The chapter concludes with a speci- 
men of such an instrument, together with an abstract of it, 
to be used with proper and requisite alterations. 

1. As I would hope, that, notwithstanding all the forms of 
opposition which do or may arise, yet in consideration of 
those noble supports and motives which have been mentioned 
in the two preceding chapters, yon are heartily determined 
for the service of God, I would now urge you to make a sol- 
emn surrender of yourself unto it. Do not only form such a 
purpose in your heart, but expressly declare it in the divine 
presence. Such solemnity in the manner of doing it is cer- 
tainly very reasonable in the nature of things ; and surely it 



RELIGION IK THE SOUL. 137 

is highly expedient for binding to the Lord such a treacherous 
heart as we know our own to be. It will be pleasant to re- 
flect upon it, as done at such and such a time, with such and 
such circumstances of place and method, which may serve to 
strike the memory and the conscience. The sense of the 
vows of God which are upon you, will strengthen you in an 
hour of temptation ; and the recollection may also encourage 
your humble boldness and freedom in applying to him, under 
the character and relation of your Covenant God and Father, 
as future exigencies may require. 

2. Do it therefore ; but do it deliberately. Consider what 
it is that you are to do, and consider how reasonable it ia 
that it should be done, and done cordially and cheerfully ; 
" not by constraint, but willingly," (1 Peter, v. 2.) for in 
this sense, and in every other, " God loves a cheerful giver." 
2 Cor. ix. 7. Now surely there is nothing we should do with 
greater cheerfulness or more cordial consent, than making 
such a surrender of ourselves to the Lord, to the God who 
created us, who brought us into this pleasant and well furnish- 
ed world, who supported us in our tender infancy, who guard- 
ed us in the thoughtless days of childhood and youth, who 
has hitherto continually helped, sustained, and preserved us. 
Nothing can be more reasonable than that we should acknowl- 
edge him as our rightful owner, and our Sovereign Ruler ; 
than that we should devote ourselves to him as our most gra- 
cious Benefactor, and seek him as our supreme felicity. 
Nothing can be more apparently equitable than that we, the 
product of his power, and the price of his Son's blood, should 
be his, and his forever. If you seethe matter in its just view, 
it will be the grief of your soul that you have ever alienated 
yourself from the blessed God and his service: so far will you 
be from wishing to continue in that state of alienation anoth- 
er year, or another day, you will rejoice to bring back to him 
his revolted creature ; and as you have in times past " yielded 
your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin," 
you will delight to « yield yourselves unto God as alive from the 
dead," and to employ " your members as instruments of right- 
eousness unto God." Rom. vi. 13. 

3. The surrender will also be as entire, as it is cheerful 
and immediate. All you are, and all you have, and all you 
can do, your time, your possessions, your influence over oth- 
ers, will be devoted to him, that for the future it may be 
employed entirely for him, and to his glory. You will desire 
to keep back nothing from him; but will seriously judge that 



138 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

you are then in the truest and noblest sense your own, when 
you are most entirely his. You are also, on this great occa- 
sion, to resign all that you have to the disposal of his wise 
and gracious providence; not only owning his power, but 
consenting to his undoubted right to do what he pleases with 
you, and all that he has given you ; and declaring a hearty 
approbation of all that he has done, and of all that he may 
further do. 

4. Once more, let me remind you that this surrender must 
be perpetual. You must give yourself up to God in such a 
manner, as never more to pretend to be your own ; for the 
rights of God are, like his nature, eternal and immutable ; 
and with regard to his rational creatures, are the same yes- 
terday, to-day and forever. 

5. I would further advise and urge that this dedication may 
be made with all possible solemnity. Do it in express words. 
And perhaps it may be in many cases most expedient, as 
many pious divines have recommended, to do it in writing. 
Set your hand and seal to it, u that, on such a day of such a 
month and year, and at such a place, on full consideration 
and serious reflection, you came to this happy resolution, that, 
whatsoever others might do, you would serve the Lord." 
Josh. xxiv. 15. 

6. Such an instrument you may, if you please, draw up for 
yourself; or, if you rather choose to have it drawn up to your 
hand, you may find something of this nature below, in which 
you may easily make such alterations as shall suit your cir- 
cumstances, where there is any thing peculiar in them. But 
whatever you use, weigh it well, meditate attentively upon it, 
that you may "not be rash with your mouth to utter any 
thing before God." Eccl. v. 2. And when you determine to 
execute this instrument, let the transaction be attended with 
tome more than ordinary religious retirement. Make it, if 
you conveniently can, a day of secret fasting and prayer ; 
and when your heart is prepared with a becoming awe of 
the Divine Majesty, with an humble confidence in his good- 
ness, and an earnest desire of his favor, then present yourself 
on your knees before God, and read it over deliberately and 
solemnly ; and when you have signed it, lay it by in some 
secure place, where you may review it whenever you please ; 
and make it a rule with yourself to review it, if possible, at 
certain seasons of the year, that you may keep up the re- 
membrance of it. And God grant that you may be enabled 
to keep it, and in the whole of your conversation to walk 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 139 

according to it. May it be an anchor to your soul in every 
temptation, and a cordial to it in every affliction. May the 
recollection of it embolden your addresses to the throne of 
grace mow, and give additional strength to your departing 
spirit, in a consciousness that it is ascending to your covenant 
God and Father, and to that gracious Redeemer, whose pow- 
er and faithfulness will securely " keep what you commit to 
him unto that day." 2 Tim. i. 12. 

An Example of Self- Dedication. 

" Eternal and unchangeable Jehovah ! thou great Creator 
of heaven and earth, and adorable Lord of angels and men, 
I desire, with the deepest humiliation and abasement of soul, 
to fall down at this time in thine awful presence, and earnestly 
pray that thou wilt penetrate my heart with a suitable sense 
of thine unutterable and inconceivable glories. 

" Trembling may justly take hold upon me, (Job, xx. 6.) 
when I, a sinful worm, presume to lift up my head to thee, 
presMme to appear in thy majestic presence on such an occa- 
sion as this. Who am I, O Lord God ! or what is my 
house 1 What is my nature or descent, my character and 
desert, that I should thus address the King of kings, and 
Lord of lords ! I blush and am confounded before thee. But, 

Lord! great as is thy majesty, so also is thy mercy. If 
thou wilt hold converse with any of thy creatures, thy super- 
latively exalted nature must stoop, must stoop infinitely low. 
And I know, that in and through Jesus, the Son of thy love, 
thou condescendest to vist sinful mortals, and to allow their ap- 
proach to thee, and their covenant intercourse with thee ; nay, 

1 know that the scheme and plan is thine own, and that thou 
hast graciously sent to propose it to us ; as none untaught 
by thee would have been able to form it, or inclined to em- 
brace it, even when actually proposed. 

" To thee therefore do I now come, invited by the name 
of thy Son, and trusting in his righteousness and grace. Lay- 
ing myself at thy feet, c with shame and confusion of face,' 
and • smiting upon my breast,' I say, with the humble publi- 
can, s God be merciful to me a sinner !' Luke, xviii. 13. I 
acknowledge, O Lord ! that I have been a great transgressor. 
1 My sins have reached unto heaven,' (Rev. xviii. 5.) and 
my iniquities are lifted up unto the skies.' Jer. li. 9. The 
irregular propensities of my corrupted and degenerated nature 
have, in ten thousand aggravated instances, ■ wrought to bring 
forth fruit unto death.' Rom.,viii. 5. And if thou shouldst 



140 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

be strict to mark my offences, I must be silent under a load 
of guilt, and immediately sink into destruction. But thou 
hast graciously called me to return unto thee, though I have 
been a wandering sheep, a prodigal son, a backsliding child. 
Jer. iii. 22. Behold, therefore, O Lord ! I come unto thee. 
I come, convinced not only of my sin, but of my folly. I 
come, from my very heart ashamed of myself, and with an 
acknowledgement, in the sincerity and humility of my soul, 
that 4 1 have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.' 
1 Sam. xxvi. 21. I am confounded myself at the remem- 
brance of these things ; but be thou ( merciful to my unright- 
eousness, and do not remember against me my sins and my 
transgressions ! 5 Heb. viii. 12. Permit me, CTLord, to bring 
back unto thee those powers and faculties which I have un- 
gratefully and sacrilegiously alienated from thy service ; and 
receive, I beseech thee, thy poor revolted creature, who is 
now convinced of thy right to him, and desires nothing in the 
whole world so much as to be thine ! 

" Blessed God ! it is with the utmost solemnity that I make 
this surrender of myself unto thee. ■ Hear, O heavens, and 
give ear, O earth ! I avouch the Lord this day to be my God,' 
(Deut. xxvi. 17.) and I avouch and declare myself this day 
to be one of his covenant children and people. Hear, O thou 
God of heaven ! and record it in the book of thy remembrance,' 
(Matt. iii. 16.) that henceforth I am thine, entirely thine. 
I would not merely consecrate unto thee some of my powers, 
or some of my possessions, or give thee a certain proportion 
of my services, or all I am capable of for a limited time, but 
I would be wholly thine, and thine forever. From this day 
I do solemnly renounce all the ' former lords which have had 
dominion over me,' (Isai. xxvi. 13.) every sin and every lust; 
and bid, in thy name, an eternal defiance to the powers of 
hell, which have most unjustly usurped the empire over my 
soul, and to all the corruptions which their fatal temptations 
have introduced into it. The whole frame of my nature, all 
the faculties of my mind, and all the members of my body, 
would I present before thee this day, i as a living sacrifice, 
holy and acceptable unto God, which' I know to be ' my most 
reasonable service.' Rom. xii. 1. To thee I consecrate all 
my worldly possessions: in thy service I desire to spend all 
the remainder of my time upon earth, and beg thou wouldst 
instruct and influence me, so that, whether my abode here 
be longer or shorter, every year and month, every day and 
hour, may be used in such a manner as shall most effect- 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 141 

ually promote thine honor, and subserve the designs of thy 
wise and gracious providence. And I earnestly pray, that, 
whatever influence thou givest me over others, in any of the 
superior relations of life in which I may stand, or in conse- 
quence of any peculiar regard which may be paid to me, thou 
wouldst give me the strength and courage to exert myself to 
the utmost for thy glory ; resolving not only that I will my- 
self do it, but that all others, so far as I can rationally aad 
properly influence them, ' shall serve the Lord.' Josh. xxiv. 
15. In this course, O blessed God ! would I steadily perse- 
vere to the very end of life ; earnestly praying, that every 
future day of it may supply the deficiences, and correct the 
irregularities of the former ; and that I may, by divine grace, 
be enabled not only to hold on in that happy way, but daily 
to grow more active in it ! 

" Nor do I only consecrate all that I am and have to thy 
service, but I also most humbly resign, and submit to thy holy 
and sovereign will, myself, and all that I can call mine. I 
leave, O Lord ! to thy management and direction, all I pos- 
sess, and all I wish ; and set every enjoyment and every in- 
terest before thee, to be disposed of as thou pleasest. Con- 
tinue or remove what thou bast given me ; bestow or refuse 
what I imagine I want, as thou, Lord, shalt see good ! And 
though I dare not say I will never repine, yet I hope I may 
venture to say, that I will labor not only to submit, but to 
acquiesce ; not only to bear what thou doest in thy most af- 
flictive dispensations, but to consent to it, and to praise thee 
for it ; contentedly resolving, in all thou appointest for me, 
my will into thine, and looking on myself as nothing, and on 
thee, O God ! as the great eternal all, whose word ought 
to determine every thing, and whose government ought to be 
the joy of the whole rational creation. 

66 Use me, O Lord ! I beseech thee, as the instrument of 
thy glory , and honor me so far, as, either by doing or suf- 
fering what thou shalt appoint, to bring some revenue of praise 
to thee, and of benefit to the world in which I dwell ! And 
may it please thee, from this day forward, to number me 
among thy peculiar people ! that I may no more be a stranger 
and foreigner, but a fellow citizen with the saints, and of 
the household of God !' Eph. ii. 19. Receive, O heavenly 
Father! thy returning prodigal! Wash me in the blood of 
thy dear Son ; clothe me with his perfect righteousness ; and 
sanctify me throughout by the power of thy Spirit ! Destroy, 
I beseech thee, more and more the power of sin in my heart! 



142 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

Transform me more into thine own image, and fashion me to 
the resemblance of Jesus, whom henceforward I would ac- 
knowledge as my teacher and sacrifice, my intercessor and 
my Lord! Communicate to me, I beseech thee, all needful 
influences of thy purifying, thy cheering, and thy comforting 
Spirit ! And lift up that £ light of thy countenance upon me,' 
which will put theeublimestjoy and 'gladness into my soul.' 
Psalm iv. 6, 7. 

" Dispose my affairs, O God! in a manner which may be 
most subservient to thy glory and my own truest happiness ; 
and when I have done and borne thy will upon earth, call me 
from hence at what time and in what manner thou pleasest : 
only grant, that, in my dying moments, and in the near pros- 
pect of eternity, I may remember these my engagements to 
thee, and may employ my latest breath in thy service. And 
do thou. Lord, when thou seest the agonies of disselviug na- 
ture upon me, remember this covenant too, even though I 
should then be incapable of recollecting it. Look down, O 
my heavenly Father! with a pitying eye, upon thy languish- 
ing, thy dying child; place thine everlasting arms underneath 
me for support ; put strength and confidence into my depart- 
ing spirit, and receive it to the embraces of thine everlasting 
love. Welcome it to the abodes of them that sleep in Jesus, 
(1 Thess. iv. 14.) to wait with them that glorious day, when 
the last of thy promises to thy covenant people shall be ful- 
filled in their triumphant resurrection, and in that abundant 
entrance, which shall be administered to them into that ever- 
lasting kingdom, (2 Pet. i. 12.) of which thou hast assured 
them by thy covenant, and in the hope of which I now 
lay hold of it, desiring to live and to die, as with mine hand 
on that hope. 

" And when I am thus numbered among the dead, and all 
the interests of mortality are over with me forever, if this 
solemn memorial should chance to fall into the hands of my 
surviving friends, may it be the means of making serious 
impressions on their minds. May they read it, not only as 
my language, but as their own ; and learn to fear the Lord 
my God, and with me to put their trust under the shadow of 
his wing, for time and for eternity! And may they also learn 
to adore with me that grace, which inclines our hearts to 
enter into the covenant, and condescends to admit us into it 
when so inclined; ascribing, with me, and with all the na- 
tions of the redeemed, to the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost, that glory, honor, and praise, which is so justly due 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 143 

to each divine Person, for the part he bears in this illustrious 
work. Amen." 

N. B. For the sake of those who may think the preceding Form 
of Self-Dedication too long to be transcribed, as it is possible 
many will, I have, at the desire of a much esteemed friend, 
added the following Abridgment of it, which should, by all 
means, be attentively weighed in every clause before it is ex- 
ecuted ; and any word or phrase which may seem liable to ex- 
ception, changed, that the whole heart may consent to it all. 

" Eternal and ever -blessed God! I desire to present my- 
self before thee, with the deepest humiliation and abasement 
of soul, sensible how unworthy such a sinful worm is to ap- 
pear before the holy Majesty of heaven, the King of kings, 
and Lord of lords, and especially on such an occasion as this, 
ever to dedicate myself, without reserve, to thee. But the 
scheme and plan is thine own. Thine infinite condescension 
hath offered it by thy Son, and thy grace hath inclined my 
heart to accept of it. 

" I come, therefore, acknowledging myself to have been 
a great offender ; smiting upon my breast, and saying with 
the humble publican, * God be merciful to me a sinner! I 
come, invited by the name of thy Son, and wholly trusting 
in his perfect righteousness, entreating that for his sake, thou 
wilt be merciful to my unrighteousness, and wilt no more re- 
member my sins. Receive, I beseech thee, thy revolted crea- 
ture, who is now convinced of thy right to him, and desires 
nothing so much as that he may be thine. 

" This day do I, with the utmost solemnity, surrender my- 
self to thee. I renounce all former lords that have had do- 
minion over me; and I consecrate to thee all that I am, and 
all that I have ; the faculties of my mind, the members of 
my body, my worldly possessions, my time, and my influence 
over others ; to be all used entirely for thy glory, and reso- 
lutely employed in obedience to thy commands, as long as 
thou continuest me in life ; with an ardent desire and humble 
resolution to continue thine through all the endless ages of 
eternity ; ever holding myself in an attentive posture to ob- 
serve the first intimations of thy will, and ready to spring 
forward with zeal and joy, to the immediate execution of it. 

" To thy direction also I resign myself, and all I am and 
have, to be disposed of by thee in such a manner as thou shalt, 
in thine infinite wisdom, judge most subservient to the pur- 
poses of thy glory. To thee I leave the management of all 
events, and say without reserve, * Not my will, but thine 



144 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

be done,' rejoicing with a loyal heart in thine unlimited gov- 
ernment, as what ought to be the delight of the whole ra- 
tional creation. 

" Use me, O Lord! I beseech thee, as an instrument of 
thy service! Number me among thy peculiar people! Let 
me be washed in the blood of thy dear Son! Let me be 
clothed with his righteousness! Let me be sanctified by his 
Spirit! Transform me more and more into his image! Im- 
part to me, through him, all needful influences of thy purify- 
ing, cheering, and comforting Spirit! And let my life be 
spent under those influences, and in the light of thy gracious 
countenance, as my Father and my God! 

" And when the solemn hour of death comes, may I re- 
member thy coyenant, ( well-ordered in all things and sure, 
as all my salvation, and all my desire,' (2 Sam. xxiii. 5.) 
though every hope and enjoyment is perishing ; and do thou, 
O Lord! remember it too. Look down with pity, O my 
heavenly Father, on thy languishing, dying child! Embrace 
me in thine everlasting arms! Put strength and confidence 
into my departing spirit, and receive it to the abodes of them 
that sleep in Jesus, peacefully and joyfully to wait the ac- 
complishment of thy great promise to all thy people, even 
that of a glorious resurrection, and of eternal happiness in 
thine heavenly presence! ' 

" And if any surviving friend should, when I am in the 
dust, meet with this memorial of my solemn transactions with 
thee, may he make the engagement his own ; and do thou 
graciously admit him to partake in all the blessings of thy 
covenant, through Jesus the great Mediator of it ; to whom, 
with thee, O Father, and thy Holy Spirit, be everlasting 
praises ascribed, by all the millions who are thus saved by 
thee, and by all those other celestial spirits, in whose work 
and blessedness thou shalt call them to share! Amen." 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 145 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

ON COMMUNION IN THE LORD'S SUPPER. 

1. If the reader has received the Ordinance of Baptism, and, as 
above recommended, dedicated himself to God. — 2. He is 
urged to ratify that engagement at the Table of the Loid. — 
3. From a view of the ends for which that Ordinance was in- 
stituted. — 4. Whence its usefulness is strongly inferred. — 5. 
And from the Authority of Christ's Appointment, which is 
solemnly pressed on the conscience. — 6. Objections from ap- 
prehensions of Unfitness. — 7. Weakness of grace, &c. briefly 
answered. — 8. At least, serious thoughtfulness on this subject 
is absolutely insisted upon. — 9. The chapter is closed with a 
prayer for one who desires to attend, yet finds himself pressed 
with remaining doubts. 

1. I hope this chapter will find you, by a most express 
consent, become one of God's covenant people, solemnly and 
most cordially devoted to his service ; and it is my hearty 
prayer, that the engagements you have made on earth may 
be ratified in heaven. But for your further instruction and 
edification, give me leave to remind you, that our Lord Jesus 
Christ hath appointed a peculiar manner of expressing our 
regard to him, by commemorating his dying love, which, 
though it does not forbid any other proper way of doing it, 
must by no means be set aside or neglected for any human 
methods, how prudent and expedient soever they may appear 
to us. 

2. Our Lord has wisely ordained, that the advantages of 
society should be brought into religion ; and as, by his com- 
mand, professed Christians assemble together for other acts 
of public worship, so he has been pleased to institute a social 
ordinance, in which a whole assembly of them is to come to 
his table, and there to eat the same bread, and drink the- 
same cup. And this they are to do, as a token of their af- 
fectionate remembrance of his dying love, of their solemn 
surrender of themselves to God, and of their sincere love to 
one another, and to all their fellow Christians. 

3. That these are indeed the great ends of the Lord's Sup- 
per, I shall not now stay to argue at large. You need only 
read what the apostle Paul hath written in the tenth and 
eleventh chapters of his first epistle to the Corinthians, to 
convince you fully of this. He there expressly tells us, that 
our Lord commanded "the bread to be eaten," and "the- 

13 



146 RISE A3VB PROGRESS OF 

wine to be drunk, in remembrance of him," (1 Cor. xi. 24. 
25.) or as a commemoration or memorial of him; so that, 
as often as Ave attend this institution, " we show forth the 
Lord's death," which we are to do "even until he come," 
1 Cor. xi. 26. And it is particularly asserted, that " the 
cup is the New Testament in his blood ;" that is, it is a seal 
of that covenant which was ratified by his blood. Now, it 
is evident, that, in consequence of this, we are to approach 
it with a view to that covenant, desiring its blessings, and 
resolving, by divine grace, to comply with its demands. On 
the whole, therefore, as the apostle speaks, we have H com- 
munion in the body and the blood of Christ," (1 Cor. x. 16.) 
and partaking of his table and of his cup, [we convere with 
Christ, and join ourselves to him as his people ; as the Jews, 
by eating their sacrifices, conversed with Jehovah, and joined 
ihemselves to him. He further reminds them, that, though 
many, they were M one bread and one body," being " all par- 
rakers of that one bread," (1 Cor. x. 17.) and being " all 
made to drink into one Spirit;" (1 Cor. xii. 13.) that is, 
■meeting together as if they were but one family, and joining 
in the commemoration of that one blood which was their com- 
mon ransom, and of the Lord Jesus, their common head. 
Now, it is evident, all these reasonings are equally applicable 
to Christians in succeeding ages. Permit me, therefore, by 
the authority of our divine Master, to press upon you the ob- 
servation of this precept. 

4. And let me also urge it, from the apparent tendency 
which it has to promote your truest advantage. You are 
setting out in the Christian life ; and I have reminded you 
at large of the opposition you must expect to meet in it. It 
is the love of Christ which must animate you to break through 
ill. What then can be more desirable than to bear about, 
with you a lively sense of it ! and what can awaken that 
sense more than the contemplation of his death as there rep- 
resented! Who can behold the bread broken, and the wine 
poured out, and not reflect how the body of the blessed Jesus 
was even torn in pieces by his sufferings, and his sacred blood 
poured forth like water on the ground! Who can think of 
the heart-rending agonies of the Son of God as the price of 
Mir redemption and salvation, and not feel his soul melted 
with tenderness, and inflamed with grateful affection! What 
salted view doth it give us of the blessings of the gospel- 
• 'tenant, when we consider it as established in the blood of 
( Jpd'a only-begotten Son ! And when we make our approach 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 147 

to God as our heavenly Father, and give up ourselves to his 
service in this solemn manner, what an awful tendency has 
it to fix the conviction, that we are not our own, being bought 
with such a price! 1 Cor. vi. 19. 20. What a tendency has 
it to guard 'us against every temptation to those sins which 
we have so solemnly renounced, and to engage our fidelity to 
him to whom we have bound our souls as with an oath! 
Well may our hearts be knit together in mutual love, (Col. 
ii. 2.) when we consider ourselves as " one in Christ:" (Gal. 
iii. 28.) his blood becomes the cement of the society, join? 
us in spirit, not only to each other, but " to all that in every 
place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both 
theirs and ours," (1 Cor. i. 2.) and we anticipate, in pleas- 
ing hope, that blessed day, when the assembly shall be com- 
plete, and we shall all " be forever with the Lord," 1 Thess, 
iv. 17. Well may these views engage us to deny onrselves, 
and to " t&ke up our cross and follow our crucified Master." 
Matt. xvl. 24. Well may they engage us to do our utmost, 
by prayer, and all other suitable endeavors, to serve his fol- 
lowers and his friends ; to serve those whom he hath pur- 
chased with his blood, and who are to be his associates and 
ours, in the glories of a happy immortality. 

5. It is also the express institution and command of our 
blessed Redeemer, that the members of such societies should 
be tenderly solicitous for the spiritual welfare of each other : 
and that, on the whole, his churches may be kept pure and 
holy, that they should " withdraw themselves from every 
brother that walketh disorderly;" (2 Thess. iii. 6.) that 
they should " mark such as cause offences" or scandals 
among them, " contrary to the doctrine which they have 
learned, and avoid them ;" Rom. xvi. 17.) " that if any obey 
not the word of Christ by his apostles," they should "have 
no fellowship or communion with such, that they may be 
ashamed;" (2 Thess. iii. 14.) that they should "not eat 
with such as are notoriously irregular" in their behavior, but, 
on the contrary, should " put away from among themselves 
such wicked persons," 1 Cor. v. 11. 13. It is evident, there- 
fore, that the institution of such societies is greatly for the 
honor of Christianity, and for the advantage of its particular 
professors. And consequently, every consideration of obe- 
dience to our common Lord, and of prudent regard to our 
own benefit and that of our brethren, will require that those 
who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity should enter into 
them, and assemble among them, in these their most solemn 
and peculiar acts of communion, at his table. 



148 RISE AIND PROGRESS OF 

6. I entreat you, therefore, and if I may presume to say 
it, in his name and by his authority, I charge it on your con- 
science that this precept of our dying Lord go not, as it were, 
for nothing with you ; but that, if you indeed love him, you 
keep this, as well as the rest of his commandments. I know 
you may be ready to form objections. I have elsewhere de- 
bated many of the chief of them at large, and I hope not 
without some good effect.* The great question is that which 
relates to your being prepared for a worthy attendance ; and 
in conjunction with what has been said before, I think that 
may be brought to a very short issue. Have you, so far as 
you know your own heart, been sincere in that deliberate 
surrender of yourself to God, through Christ, which I rec- 
ommended in the former chapters'? If you have, whether it 
were with or without the particular form or manner of doing 
it there recommended, you have certainly taken hold of the 
covenant, and therefore should devote yourself to God, in 
obedience to all his commands. And there is not, and can- 
not be, any other view of the ordinance, in which you can 
have any further objeotion to it. If you desire to remember 
Christ's death ; if you desire to renew the dedication of your- 
self to God through him ; if you would list yourself among 
his people 5 if you would love them, and do them good accor- 
ding to your ability, and, on the whole, would not allow 
yourself in the practice of any one known sin, or in the 
omission of any one known duty, then I will venture confi- 
dently to say, not only that you will be welcome to the or- 
dinance, but that it was instituted lor such as you. 

7. As for other objections, a few words may suffice by 
way of reply. The weakness of the religious principle in 
your soul, if it be really implanted there, is so far from being 
an argument against your seeking such a method to strength- 
en it, that it rather strongly enforces the necessity of doing it. 
The neglect of this solemnity, by so many that call them- 
selves Christians, should rather engage you so much the more 
to distinguish your zeal for an institution in this respect so 
much slighted and injured. And as for the fears of aggra- 
vated guilt, in case of apostacy, do not indulge them. This 
may, by the divine blessing, be an effectual remedy against 
the evil you fear ; and it is certain, that, after what you 
must already have known and felt, before you could be 
brought into your present situation, (on the supposition I 

•* See the Fourth of my Sermons to Young Persons. 



RELIGION IN THE SOTJL. 149 

have now been making) there can be no room to think of a 
retreat ; no room, even for the wretched hope of being less 
miserable than the generality of those that have perished. 
Your scheme, therefore, must be to take your salvation as 
sure, and to make it as glorious, as possible ; and I know 
not any appointment of our blessed Redeemer, which may 
have a more comfortable aspect upon the blessed end, than 
this which I am recommending to you. 

8. One thing I would at least insist upon, and I see not 
with what face it can be denied. I mean, that you should 
take this matter into serious consideration ; that you should 
diligently inquire, " whether you have reason in your con- 
science to believe, it is the will of God you should now ap- 
proach to the ordinance or not;" and that you should con- 
tinue your reflections, your inquiries, and your prayers, till 
you find further encouragement to come, if that encourage- 
ment be hitherto wanting. For of this be assured, that a 
state in which you are on the whole unfit to approach this 
ordinance, is a state in which you are destitute of the neces- 
sary preparations for death and heaven ; in which, therefore, 
if you would not allow yourselves to slumber on the brink of 
destruction, you ought not to rest so much as one single day.- 

A Prayer for one who earnestly desires to approach the 
Table of the Lord, yet has some remaining doubts 
concerning his right to that solemn ordinance. 
"Blessed Lord ! I adore thy wise and gracious ap- 
pointments, for the edification of thy church in holiness and 
in love. I thank thee that thou hast commanded thy serv- 
ants to form themselves into churches ; and I adore my gra- 
cious Savior, who hath instituted, as with his dying breath, 
the holy solemnity of his Supper, to be through all ages a 
memorial of his dying love, and a bond of that union which 
it is his sovereign pleasure that his people should preserve. 
I hope thou Lord, art witness to the sincerity with which I 
desire to give myself up to thee ; and that I may call thee 
to record on my soul, that, if I now hesitate about this par- 
ticular manner of doing it, it is not because I would allow 
myself to break any of thy commands, or to slight any of thy 
favors. I trust thou knowest that my present delay arises 
only from my uncertainty as to my duty, and a fear of pro- 
faning holy things by an unworthy approach to them. Yet 
surely, O Lord! if thou hast given me a reverence for thy 
command, a desire of communion with thee, and a willing- 



150 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



tgard it 
ve me, 



ness to devote myself wholly to thy service, I may regard it 
as a token for good, that thou art disposed to receive me, 
and that I am not wholly unqualified for an ordinance which 
I so highly honor, and so earnestly desire. I therefore make 
it ray humble recmest unto thee, O Lord! this day, that thou 
wouldst graciously be pleased to instruct me in my duty, and 
to teach me the way which I should take. ' Examine me, 
O Lord! and prove me, try my reins and my heart! 5 Psal. 
xxvi. 2. Is there any secret sin, in the love and practice of 
which I would indulge! Is there any of thy precepts, in the 
habitual breach of which I would allow myself! I trust I 
can appeal to thee as a witness that there is not. Let me 
not, then, wrong my own soul, by a causeless and sinful ab- 
sence from thy sacred table! But grant, O Lord! I beseech 
thee, that thy word, thy providence, and thy Spirit, may so 
concur as to ( make my way plain before me!' Prov. xv. 19. 
Scatter my remaining doubts, if thou seest that they have no 
just foundation! Fill me with more assured faith, with a 
more ardent love, and plead thine own cause with my heart 
in such a manner, as that I may not be able any longer to 
delay that approach, which, if I am thy servant indeed, is 
equally my duty and my privilege! In the mean time, grant 
that it may never be long out of my thoughts ; but that 1 may 
give all diligence, if there be any remaining occasion of doubt, 
to remove it by a more affectionate concern to avoid what- 
ever is displeasing to the eyes of thine holiness, and to prac- 
tice the full extent of my duty. May the views of Christ 
crucified be so familiar to my mind, and may a sense of his 
dying love so powerfully constrain my soul, that my own 
growing experience may put it out of all question, that I am 
one of those for whom he intended this feast of love! 

" And even now, as joined to thy church in spirit and in 
love, though not in so express and intimate a bond as I could 
wish, would I heartily pray that thy blessing may be on all 
thy people ; that thou wouldst f feed thine heritage, and lift 
them up forever!' Psal. xxviii. 9. May every Christian 
church flourish in knowledge, in holiness, and in love ! 
May all thy priests be clothed with salvation, that by their 
means thy chosen people may be made joyful, Psalm cxxxii. 
16. And may there be a glorious accession to thy churches 
every where, of those who may fly to them ' as a cloud, and 
as doves to their windows,' Isaiah lx. 8. May thy table, 
O Lord! be * furnished with guests,' (Matt. xxii. 10.) and 
may all that * love thy salvation say, Let the Lord be mag- 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 151 

nified, who hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servants,* 
Psalm xxxv. 27. And I earnestly pray, that all who profess 
e to have received Christ Jesus the Lord,' may be duly care- 
ful to * walk in him,' (Col. ii. 6.) and that we may all be 
preparing for the general assembly of the first-born, and may 
join in that nobler and more immediate worship, where all 
these types and shadows shall be laid aside ; where even these 
memorials shall be no longer necessary ; but a living, pres- 
ent Redeemer, shall be the everlasting joy of those, who here 
in his absence have delighted to commemorate his death ! 
Amen !" 



CHAPTER XIX. 



SOME MORE PARTICULAR DIRECTIONS FOR MAINTAIN- 
ING CONTINUAL COMMUNION WITH GOD, OR BEING IN 
HIS FEAR ALL THE DAY LONG. 

1. A Letter to a pious friend on this subject introduced here. — 
2. General plan of directions. — 3. For the beginning of the 
day. — 4. Lifting up the heart to God at our first awakening. — 
5. 10. Setting ourselves to the secret devotions of the morning, 
with respect to which particular advice is given. — 11. For the 
progress of the day. — 12. Directions are given concerning se- 
riousness in devotion. — 13. Diligence in business. — 14. Pru- 
dence in recreations. — 15. Observation of Providences. — 16. 
Watchfulness against temptations. — 17. Dependence on divine 
influences.— 18. Government of the thoughts when in solitude. 
— 19. Management of discourse in company. — 20. For the con- 
clusion of the day. — 21. With the secret devotions of the eve- 
ning. — 22. 23. Directions for self-examination at large. — 24. 
Lying down with a proper temper. — 25. Conclusion of the let- 
ter. — 26. and of the chapter. — With a serious view of death, 
proper to be taken at the close of the day. 

1. I would hope, that upon serious consideration, sejf- 
examination, and prayer, the reader has given himself up to 
God ; and that his concern now is to inquire, how he may 
act according to the vows of God which are upon him. Now, 
for his further assistance here, besides the general view I 
have already given of the Christian temper and character, I 
will propose some more particular directions relating to main- 
taining that devout, spiritual, and heavenly character, which 
may, in the language of scripture, be called " a daily walk- 



152 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



ing with God, or being in his fear all the day Jong," Prov. 
xxiii. 17. And I know not how I can express the idea and 
plan which I have formed of this, in a more clear and dis- 
tinct manner than I did in a letter which I wrote many years 
ago [in 1727] to a young person of eminent piety, with whom 
I had then an intimate friendship ; and who, to the great 
grief of all that knew him, died a few months after he re- 
ceived it. Yet 1 hope he lived long enough to reduce the 
directions to practice, which I wish and pray that every read- 
er may do, so far as they may properly suit his capacities and 
circumstances in life, considering it as if addressed to himself. 
I say, and desire it may be observed, that I wish my reader 
may act on these directions so far as they may properly suit 
his capacities and circumstances in life; for I would be far 
from laying down the following particulars as universal rules 
for all, or for anyone person in the world, at all times. Let 
them be practised by those that are able, and when they have 
leisure ; and when you cannot reach them all, come as near 
the most important of them as you conveniently can. With 
this precaution I proceed to the letter, which I would hope, 
after this previous care to guard against the danger of mis- 
taking it, will not discourage any, the weakest Christian. 
Let us humbly and cheerfully do what we can, and rejoice 
that we have so gracious a Father who knows all our infirm- 
ities, and so compassionate a High Priest, to recommeud to 
divine acceptance the feeblest efforts of sincere duty and love! 

My dear Friend, 

Since you desire my thoughts in writing, and at large, on 
the subject of our late conversation, viz. " By what particular 
methods, in our daily conduct, a life of devotion and useful- 
ness may be most happily maintained and secured" — I set 
myself with cheerfulness to recollect and digest the hints 
which I then gave you ; hoping it may be of some service to 
you in your most important interests ; and may also fix on my 
own mind a deeper sense of my obligations to govern my own 
life by the rules I offer to others. I esteem attempts of this 
kind among the pleasantest fruits, and the surest cements of 
friendship, and, as I hope ours will last forever, I am per- 
suaded a mutual care to cherish sentiments of this kind will 
add everlasting endearments to it. 

2. The directions you will expect from me on this occasion, 
naturally divide themselves into three heads: How we are to 
regard God in the beginning; the progress; and the close of 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 153 

the day. I will open my heart freely to you with regard to each, 
and will leave you to judge how far these hints may suit your 
circumstances; aiming at least to keep between the extremes 
of a superstitious strictness in trifles, and an indolent remiss- 
ness, which, if admitted in little things, may draw after it 
criminal neglects, and at leugth more criminal indulgences. 

3. In the beginning of the day : It should certainly be our 
care to lift up our hearts to God, as soon as we wake, and 
while we are rising; and then, to set ourselves seriously and 
immediately to the secret devotions of the morning. 

4. For the first of these it seems exceedingly natural. 
There are so many things that may suggest a great variety 
of pious reflections and ejaculations, which are so obvious, 
that one would think a serious mind could hardly miss them. 
The ease and cheerfulness of our mind on our first awaking; 
the refreshment we find from sleep ; the security we have en- 
joyed in that defenceless state ; the provision of warm and 
decent apparel ; the cheerful light of the returning sun ; or 
even (which is not unfit to mention to you) the contrivances 
of art, taught and furnished by the great Author of all our 
conveniences, to supply us with many useful hours of life in 
the absence of the sun ; the hope of returning to the dear so- 
ciety of our friends ; the prospect of spending another day 
in the service of God, and the improvement of oiu* own, 
minds ; and, above all, the lively hope of a joyful resurrec- 
tion to an eternal day of happiness and glory : any of these 
particulars, and many more which I do not mention, may 
furnish us with matter of pleasing reflection, and cheerful 
praise, while we are rising. And for our further assistance, 
when we are alone at this time, it may not be improper to 
speak sometimes to ourselves, and sometimes to our heavenly 
Father, in the natural expressions of joy and thankfulness. 
Permit me, Sir, to add, that, if we find our hearts in such a 
frame at our first awaking, even that is just matter of praise, 
and the rather, as perhaps it is an answer to the prayer with 
which we lay down. 

5. For the exercise of secret devotion in the morning, 
which I hope will generally be our first work, I cannot pre- 
scribe an exact method to another. You must, my dear 
friend, consult your own taste in some measure. The con- 
stituent parts of the service are, in the general, plain. Were 
I to propose a particular model for those who have half or 
three quarters of an hour at command, which, with prudent 
conduct, I suppose most may have, it should be this : 

14 



154. 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



6. To begin the stated devotions of the day with a solemn 
act of praise, offered to God on our knees, and generally 
with a low, yet distinct voice; acknowledging the mercies 
we have been reflecting on while rising, never forgetting to 
mention Christ as the great foundation of all our enjoyments 
and our hopes, or to return thanks for the influences of the 
blessed Spirit, which have led our hearts to God, or are then 
engaging us to seek him. This, as well as other offices of 
devotion afterwards mentioned, must be done attentively and 
sincerely; for not to offer our praises heartily, is, in the sight 
off God, not to praise him at all. This address of praise may 
properly be concluded with an express renewal of our dedi- 
cation to God, declaring our continued repeated resolution 
of being devoted to him, and particularly of living to his glory 
the ensuing day. 

7. It may be proper, after this, to take a prospect of the 
day before us, so far as we can probably foresee, in the gen- 
eral, where and how it may be spent ; and seriously to reflect, 
<; How shall I employ myself for God this day"? What busi- 
ness is to be done, and in what order! What opportunities 
may I expect, either of doing or of receiving good] What 
temptations am I likely to be assaulted with, in any place, 
company, or circumstances, which may probably occur? In 
what instances have I lately failed? And how shall I be safest 



8. After this review it will be proper to offer up a short 
prayer, begging that God would quicken us to each of these 
foreseen duties ; that he would fortify us against each of these 
apprehended dangers ; that he would grant us success in such 
or such a business undertaken for his glory; and also that he 
would help us to discover and improve unforeseen opportu- 
nities, to resist unexpected temptations, and to bear patiently, 
and religiously, any afflictions which may surprise us in the 
day on which we are entering. 

9. I would advise you after this to read some portion of 
scripture: not a great deal, nor the whole Bible in its course; 
hut some select portions out of its most useful parts, perhaps 
ten or twelve verses, not troubling yourself much about the 
exact connexion, or other critical niceties which may occur, 
though at other times I would recommend them to your in- 
quiry, as you have ability and opportunity, but consider- 
ing them merely in a devotional and practical view. Here 
take such instructions as readily present themselves to your 
thoughts, repeat them over to your own conscience, and 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL* 155 

charge your heart religiously to observe them, and act upon 
them, under a sense of the divine authority which attend* 
them. And if you pray over the substance of this scripture 
with your Bible open before you, it may impress your mem- 
ory and your heart yet more deeply, and may form you to a 
copiousness and variety, both of thought and expression, in 
prayer. 

10. It might be proper to close these devotions with a 
psalm or hymn ; and I rejoice with you, that through the piou* 
care of our sacred poets, we are provided with so rich a va- 
riety for the assistance of the closet and family on these oc- 
casions, as well as for the service of the sanctuary. 

11. The most material directions which have occurred to 
me relating to the progress of the day, are these : That we 
be serious in the devotions of the day; that we be diligent 
in the business of it, that is, in the prosecution of our worldly 
callings; that we be temperate and prudent in the recreations 
of it; that we carefully mark the providences of the day.; 
that we cautiously guard against the temptations of it ; that 
we keep up a lively and humble dependence upon the divine 
influence, suitable to every emergency of it; that we govern 
our thoughts well in the solitude of the day, and our dis- 
courses well in the conversations of it. These, Sir, were 
the heads of a sermon which you have lately heard me preachy 
and to which I know you referred in that request which I am 
now endeavoring to answer. I will therefore touch upon the 
most material hints, which fall under each of these partic- 
ulars. 

12. For seriousness in devotion, whether public or domes- 
tic, let us take a few moments before we enter upon such 
solemnities, to pause, and reflect on the perfections of the 
God we are addressing, on the importance of the business 
we are coming about, on the pleasure and advantage of a 
regular and devout attendance, and on the guilt and folly of 
an hypocritical formality. When engaged, let us maintain 
a strict watchfulness over our own spirits, aud check the 
first wanderings of thought: And when the duty is over, let 
us immediately reflect on the manner in which it has been 
performed, and ask our own consciences whether we have 
reason to conclude that we are accepted of God in itl For 
there is a certain manner of going through these offices, which 
our own hearts will immediately tell us, " it is impossible for 
God to approve ;" and if we have inadvertently fallen into 
it, we ought to be deeply humbled before God for it, lest 
"our very prayer become* sin." Peal. cix. 7. 



156 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



13. As for the hours of worldly business, whether it be that 
of the hands, or the labor of a learned life not immediately 
relating to religious matters ; let us set to the prosecution of 
it with a sense of God's authority, and with a regard to his 
glory. Let us avoid a dreaming, sluggish, indolent temper, 
which nods over its work, and does only the business of one 
horn* in two or three. In opposition to this, which runs 
through the life of some people, who yet think they are never 
idle, let us endeavor to despatch as much as we well can in 
a little time ; considering, that it is but a little we have in 
all. And let us be habitually sensible of the need we have 
of the divine blessing, to make our labors successful. 

14. For seasons of diversion, let us take care, that our 
recreations be well chosen ; that they be pursued with a good 
intention, to fit us for a renewed application to the labors of 
life ; and thus, that they be only used in subordination to the 
honor of God, the great end of all our actions. Let us take 
heed, that our hearts be not estranged from God by them ; 
and that they do not take up too much of our time ; always 
remembering, that, the faculties of human nature, -and the 
advantages of the Christian revelation, were not given us in 
vain ; but that we are always to be in pursuit of some great 
and honorable end, and to indulge ourselves in amusements 
and diversions no further, than as they make a part in a 
scheme of rational and manly, benevolent and pious conduct. 

15. For the observation of Providence : it will be useful 
to regard the divine interposition in our comforts and in our 
afflictions. In our comforts, whether more common or ex- 
traordinary: that we find ourselves in continued health; that 
we are furnished with food for support and pleasure ; that 
we have so many agreeable ways of employing our time ; 
that we have so many friends, and those so good, and so 
happy ; that our business goes on so prosperously ; that we 
go out and come in safely; and that we enjoy composure and 
cheerfulness of spirit, without which nothing else could be 
enjoyed: all these should be regarded as providential favors; 
and due acknowledgments should be made to God on these 
accounts, as we pass through such agreeable scenes. On the 
other hand, Providence is to be regarded in every disappoint- 
ment, in every loss, in every pain, in every instance of un- 
kindness from those who have professed friendship ; and we 
should endeavor to argue ourselves into a patient submission, 
from this consideration, that the hand of God is always me- 
diately, if not immediately, in each of them; and that, if 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 157 

they are not properly the work of Providence, they are at least 
under his direction. It is a reflection, which we should par- 
ticularly make with relation to those little cross accidents, 
(as we are ready to call them), and those infirmities and fol- 
lies in the temper and conduct of our intimate friends, which 
may else be ready to discompose us. And it is the more ne- 
cessary to guard our minds here, as wise and good men often 
lose the command of themselves on these comparatively little 
occasions ; who, calling up reason and religion to their as- 
sistance, stand the shock of great calamities with fortitude 
and resolution. 

16. For watchfulness against temptations, it is necessary, 
when changing our place, or our employment, to reflect. 
What snares attended me here! And as this should be our 
habitual care, so we should especially guard against those 
snares which in the morning we foresaw. And when we are 
entering on those circumstances in which we expected the 
assault, we should reflect, especially if it be a matter of great 
importance, " Now the combat is going to begin: now God 
and the blessed angels are observing, what constancy, what 
fortitude there is in my soul, and how far the divine authority^ 
and the remembrance of my own prayers and resolutions, 
will weigh with me, when it comes to a trial." 

17. As for dependence on divine grace and influence, it 
must be universal ; and since we always need it, we must 
never forget that necessity, A moment spent in humble fer- 
vent breathings after the communications of the divine assist- 
ance, may do more good than many minutes spent in mere 
reasonings ; and though indeed this should not be neglected, 
since the light of reason is a kind of divine illumination, yet 
still it ought to be pursued in a due sense of our dependence 
on the Father of Lights, or where we think ourselves wisest, 
we may " become vain in our imaginations," Rom, i. 21, 22, 
Let us therefore always call upon God, and say, for instance, 
when we are going to pray, " Lord, fix my attention ! 
Awaken my holy affections, and pour out upon me the spirit 
of grace and supplication !" Zee. xii. 10. When taking up 
a Bible or any other good book, " Open thou mine eyes, that 
I may behold wondrous things out of thy law! Psal. cxix. 18. 
Enlighten my understanding! Warm my heart! May my 
good resolutions be confirmed, and all the course of my life 
Be in a proper manner regulated!" When addressing our- 
selves to any worldly business, " Lord, prosper thou the work 
Qf mine bands upon me, (Psalm xc. 17.) and give thy bless- 



158 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

itig to my honest endeavors!" When going to any kind of 
recreation, " Lord, bless my refreshments! Let me not for- 
get thee in them, but still keep thy glory in view!" When 
coining into company, " Lord, may I do, and get good! Let 
no corrupt communication proceed out of my mouth, but that 
which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister 
grace to the hearers!" Eph. iv. 29. When entering upon 
difficulties, "Lord, give me that wisdom, which is profita- 
ble to direct!" Eccles. x. 10. " Teach me thy way, and 
lead me in a plain path!" Psalm xxvii. 11. When encoun- 
tering with temptation, " Let thy strength, O gracious Re- 
deemer, be made perfect in my weakness!" 2 Cor. xii. 9. 
These instances may illustrate the design of this direction, 
though they may be far from a complete enumeration of all 
the circumstances in which it is to be regarded. 

18. For the government of our thoughts in solitude: let ng 
accustom ourselves, on all occasions, to exercise a due com- 
mand over our thoughts. Let us take care of those entangle- 
ments of passion, and those attachments to any present inter- 
est in view, which would deprive us of our power over them. 
Let us set before us some profitable subject of thought: such 
as the perfections of the blessed God, the love of Christ, the 
value of time, the certainty and importance of death and 
judgment, and the eternity of happiness or misery which is 
to follow. Let us also, at such intervals, reflect on what we 
have observed as to the state of our own souls, with regard 
to the advance or decline of religion ; or on the last sermon 
we have heard, or the last portion of scripture we have read. 
You may perhaps, in this connexion, Sir, recollect what I 
have, if I remember right, proposed to you in conversation ; that 
it might be very useful to select some one verse of scripture 
which we had met with in the morning, and to treasure it up 
in our mind, resolving to think of that at any time when we 
are at a loss for matter of pious reflection, in any intervale 
of leisure for entering upon it. This will often be as a spring 
from whence many profitable and delightful thoughts may rise, 
which perhaps we did not before see in that connection and 
force. Or if it should not be so, yet I am persuaded it will 
be much better to repeat the same scripture in our mind a 
hundred times in a day, with some pious ejaculation formed 
upon it, than to leave our thoughts at the mercy of all those 
various trifles, which may otherwise intrude upon us.; the 
variety of which will be far from making amends for their 
vanity. 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 159 

19. Lastly, for the government of our discourse in com- 
pany. We should take great care, that nothing may escape 
us, which can expose us, or our Christian profession, to cen- 
sure and reproach; nothing injurous to those that are absent,, 
or those that are present; nothing malignant, nothing insin- 
cere, nothing which may corrupt, nothing which may pro- 
voke, nothing which may mislead those about us. Nor should 
we by any means be content, that what we say' is innocent : 
it should be our desire, that it may be edifying to ©urselves 
and others. In this view, we should endeavor to have some 
subject of useful discourse always ready ; in which we may 
be assisted by the hints given about furniture for thought, 
under the former head. We should watch for decent oppor- 
tunities of introducing useful reflections ; and if a pious friend 
attempt to do it, we should endeavor to second it immediately. 
When the conversation does not turn directly on religious 
subjects, we should endeavor to make it improving some other 
way ; we should reflect on the character and capacities of 
our company, that we may lead them to talk of what they 
understand best ; for their discourses on those subjects will 
probably be most pleasant to themselves, as well as most use- 
ful to us. And in pauses of discourse, it may not be im- 
proper to lift up a holy ejaculation to God, that his grace 
may assist us and our friends in our endeavors to do good to 
each other; that all we say and do maybe worthy the char- 
acter of reasonable creatures and of Christians. 

20. The directions for a religious closing of the day which 
I shall here mention, are only two<: Let us see to it, that 
the secret duties of the evening be well performed ; and let 
us lie down on our beds in a pious frame. 

21. For the secret devotion in the evening, I would propose 
a method something different from that in the morning; but 
still, as then, with due allowances for circumstances, which 
may make unthought-of alterations proper. I shocM advise 
to read a portion of scripture in the first place, with suitable 
reflections and prayer, as above ; then to read a hymn, or 
psalm ; after this to enter on self-examination, to be followed 
by a longer prayer than that which followed reading, to be 
formed on this review of the day. In this address to the 
throne of grace, it will be highly proper to entreat that God 
would pardon the omissions and offences of the day ; to praise 
him for mercies temporal and spiritual ; to recommend our- 
selves to his protection for the ensuing night ; with proper 
petitions for others, whom we ought to bear on our hearts 



160 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



before hiin ; and particularly for those friends with whom 
we have conversed or corresponded in the preceding day. 
Many other concerns will occur, both in morning and even- 
ing prayer, which I have not here hinted at ; but I did not 
apprehend that a full enumeration of these things belonged, 
by any means, to our present purpose. 

22. Before I quit this head, I must take the liberty to re- 
mind you, that self-examination is so important a duty, that 
it will be worth our while to spend a few words upon it. 
And this branch of it is so easy, that, when we have proper 
questions before us, any person of a common understanding 
may hope to go through it with advantage under a divine 
blessing. I offer you therefore the following queries, which 
I hope you will, with such alterations as you may judge re- 
quisite, keep near you for daily use. " Did I awake as with 
God this morning, and rise with a grateful sense of his good- 
ness! Haw were the secret devotions of the morning per- 
formed ! Did I offer my solemn praises, and renew the 
dedication of myself to God, with becoming attention and 
suitable affections 1 Did I lay my scheme for the business 
of the day wisely and well! How did I read the Scriptures, 
and any other devotional or practical piece, which I after- 
wards found it convenient to review ! Did it do my heart 
good, or was it a mere amusement 1 How have the other 
stated devotions of the day been attended, whether in the 
family or in public ! Have I pursued the common business 
of the day with diligence and spirituality, doing every thing 
in season, and with all convenient despatch, and as ' unto the 
Lord!' Col. iii. 23. What time have I lost this day, in the 
morning, or the forenoon, in the afternoon, or the evening! 
(i for these divisions will assist your recollection ;" and what 
has occasioned the loss of it! With what temper, and under 
what regulations, have the recreations of this day been pur- 
sued! Have I seen the hand of God in my mercies, health, 
cheerfuluess, food, clothing, books, preservation in journies, 
success of business, conversation, and kindness of friends, 
&c! Have I seen it in afflictions, and particularly in little 
things, which had a tendency to vex and disquiet me! Have 
I received my comforts thankfully, and my afflictions sub- 
missively ! How have I guarded against the temptations of 
the day, particularly against this or that temptation, which 1 
foresaw in the morning! Have I maintained a dependence 
on divine influence ! Have I * lived by faith on the Son of 
God,' (Gal. ii. 20.) and regarded Christ this day as my 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 16.1 

teacher and governor, my atonement and intercessor, my 
example and guardian, my strength and forerunner 1 Have 
I been looking forward to death and eternity this day, and 
considered myself as a probationer for heaven, and through 
grace an expectant of it 1 Have I governed my thoughts 
well, especially in such or such an interval of solitude 1 How 
was my subject of thought this day chosen, and how was it 
regarded 1 Have I governed my discourses well, in such and 
such company 1 Did I say nothing passionate, mischievous, 
slanderous, imprudent, impertinent! Has my heart this day 
been full of love to God, and to all mankind 1 and have I 
sought, and found, and improved, opportunities of doing and 
of getting good! With what attention and improvement have 
I read the scripture this evening ! How was self-examina- 
tion performed the last night 1 and how have I profited this 
day by any remarks I then made on former negligences and 
mistakes'? With what temper did I then lie down, and com- 
pose myself to sleep 1*' 

23. You will easily see, Sir, that these questions are so 
adjusted, as to be an abridgment of the most material advice 
I have given in this letter ; and I believe I need not, to a per- 
son of your understanding, say any thing as to the usefulness 
of such inquiries. Conscience will answer them in a few 
minutes ; but if you think them too large and particular, you 
may make still a shorter abstract for daily use, and reserve 
these, with such obvious alteration as will then be necessary 
for seasons of more than ordinary exactness in review, which 
I hope will occur at least once a-week. Secret devotion be- 
ing thus performed, before drowsiness render us unfit for it, 
the interval between that and our going to rest must be con- 
ducted by the rules mentioned under the next head. And 
nothing will further remain to be considered here, but, 

24. The sentiments with which we should lie down and 
compose ourselves to sleep. Now here it is obviously suita- 
ble to think of the divine goodness, in adding another day, 
and the mercies of it, to the former days and mercies of our 
life; to take notice of the indulgence of Providence in giving 
us commodious habitations and easy beds, and continuing to 
us such health of body that we can lay ourselves down at ease 
upon them, and such serenity of mind as leaves us any room 
to hope for refreshing sleep; a refreshment to be sought, not 
merely as an indulgence to animal nature, but as what our 
wise Creator, in order to keep us humble in the midst of so 
many infirmities, has been pleased to make necessary to our 



J 62 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

being able to pursue his service with renewed alacrity. Thus 
may our sleeping, as well as our waking hours, be in some 
sense devoted to God. And when we are just going to re- 
sign ourselves to the image of death, to what one of the an- 
cients beautifully calls " its lesser mysteries," it is also evi- 
dently proper to think seriously of that end of all the living, 
and to renew those actings of repentance and faith, which 
we should judge necessary if we were to wake no more here. 
You have once, Sir, seen a meditation of that kind in my 
hand: I will transcribe it for you in thepostcript; and there- 
fore shall add no more to this head, bnt here put a close to 
the directions you desired. 

25. I am persuaded the most important of them have, in 
one form or another, been long regarded by you, and made 
governing maxims of your life. I shall greatly rejoice, if the 
review of these, and the examination and trial of the rest, 
may be the means of leading you into more intimate com- 
munion with God, and so of rendering your life more pleas- 
ant and useful, and your eternity, whenever that is to com- 
mence, more glorious. There is not a human creature upon 
earth, whom I should not delight to serve in these important 
interests ; but I can faithfully assure you, that I am, with 
particular respect, 

Dear Sir, 
Your very affectionate friend and servant. 

26. This, reader, with the alteration of a very few words, 
is the letter I wrote to a worthy friend, (now I doubt not 
with God), about sixteen years ago ; and I can assuredly say, 
that the experience of each of these years has confirmed me 
in these views, and established me in the persuasion, that one 
day thus spent is far preferable to whole years of sensuality, 
and the neglect of religion. I chose to insert the letter as it 
is, because I thought the freedom and particularity of the 
advice I had given in it would appear most natural in its 
original form ; and as I propose to enforce these counsels in 
the next chapter, I shall conclude this with that meditation, 
which I promised my friend as a postscript; and which I 
could wish you to make so familiar to yourself, as that yon 
may be able to recollect the substance of it, whenever yow 
compose yourself to sleep. 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 163 

A serious view of death, proper to be taken as toe lie 
down on our beds. 

"O my soul! look forward a little with seriousness and 
attention, and learn wisdom by the consideration of thy latter 
end, Deut. xxii. 29. Another of thy mortal days is now 
numbered and finished ; and as I have put off my clothes, and 
laid myself upon my bed for the repose of the night; so will 
the day of life quickly come to its period, so must the body 
itself be put off and laid to its repose in a bed of dust. There 
let it rest ; for it will be no more regarded by me, than the 
clothes which I have now laid aside. I have another far 
more important concern to attend. Think, O my soul! when 
death comes, thou art to enter upon the eternal world, and 
to be fixed either in heaven or in hell. All the schemes and 
cares, the hopes and fears, the pleasures and sorrows of life, 
will come to their period, and the world of spirits will open 
upon thee. And oh ! how soon may it open! Perhaps be- 
fore the returning sun brings on the light of another day. 
To-morrow's sun may not enlighten my eyes, but only shine 
round a senseless corpse, which may lie in the place of this 
animated body. At least the death of many in the flower of 
their age, and many who were superior to me in capacity, 
piety, and the prospects of usefulness, may loudly warn me 
not to depend on a long life, and engage me rather to wonder 
that I am continued here so many years, than to be surprised 
if I am speedily removed. 

"And now, O my soul! answer as in the sight of God, 
Art thou ready 1 Art thou ready 1 Is there no sin unforsak- 
en, and so unrepented of, to fill me with anguish in my depart- 
ing moments, and to make me tremble on the brink of eternity 1 
Dread to remain under the guilt of it, and this moment re- 
new thy most earnest applications to the mercy of God, and 
the blood of a Redeemer, for deliverance from it. 

" But if the great account be already adjusted, if thou hast 
cordially repented of thy numerous offences, if thou hast sin- 
cerely committed thyself, by faith, into the hands of the bless- 
ed Jesus, and hast not renounced thy covenant with him, by 
returning to the allowed practice of sin, then start not at the 
thought of a separation ; it is not in the power of death to 
hurt a soul devoted to God, and united to the great Redeem- 
er. It may take from me my worldly comforts, it may dis- 
concert and break my schemes for service on earth; but, O 
my soul, diviner entertainments and nobler services ' wait thee 



164 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



beyond the grave!' Forever blessed be the name of God and 
the love of Jesus, for these quieting, encouraging, joyful views! 
I will now lay me down in peace, and sleep, (Psal. iv. 8.) 
free from the fears of what shall be the issue of this night, 
whether life or death be appointed for me. Father, into thy 
hands I commend my spirit, (Luke, xxiii. 46.) for thou hast 
redeemed me, O God of truth! (Psalm xxxi. 5.) and there- 
fore I can cheerfully refer it to thy choice, whether I shall 
wake in this world or another." 



CHAPTER XX. 

A SERIOUS PERSUASIVE TO SUCH A METHOD OF SPEND- 
ING OUR DAYS AS IS REPRESENTED IN THE FORMER 
CHAPTER. 

1. 2. Christians fix their views too low, and indulge too indolent 
a disposition, which makes it more necessary to urge such a 
life as that under consideration. — 3. It is therefore enforced, 
from its being apparently reasonable, considering ourselves as 
the creatures of God, and as redeemed by the blood of Christ. 
— 4. From its evident tendency to conduce to our comfort in 
life. — 5. From the influence it will have to promote our use- 
fulness to others. — 6. From its efficacy to make afflictions ligh- 
er. — 7. From its happy aspect on death. — 8. And on eternity. 
— 9. Whereas not to desire improvement would argue a soul 
destitute of religion. A prayer suited to the state of a soul 
who longs to attain the life recommended above. 

1. I have been assigning, in the preceding chapter, what, 
I fear, will seem to some of my readers so hard a task, that 
they will want courage to attempt it ; and indeed it is a life 
in many respects so far above that of the generality of Christ- 
ians, that I am not without apprehensions, that many, who 
deserve the name, may think the directions, after all the pre- 
cautions with which I have proposed them, are carried to an 
unnecessary degree of nicety and strictness. But I am per- 
suaded, much of the credit and comfort of Christianity is lost, 
in consequence of its professors fixing their aims too low, and 
not conceiving of their high and holy calling in so elevated 
and sublime a view as the nature of religion would require, 
and the w.ord of God would direct. I am fully convinced, 
that the expressions of " walking with God," of " being in 
the fear of the Lord all the day long," (Prov. xxiii. 17,) 



RELIGION IK THE SOUL. 165 

and, above all, that of " loving the Lord our God with all 
our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength," (Mark, xii. , 
30.) must require, if not all these circumstances, yet the sub- 
stance of all that I have been recommending, so far as we 
have capacity, leisure, and opportunity ; and I cannot but 
think, that many might command more of the latter, and per- 
haps improve their capacities too, if they would take a due 
care in the government of themselves ; if they would give up 
vain and unnecessary diversions, and certain indulgences, 
which only suit and delight the lower part of our nature, and, 
to say the best of them, deprive us of pleasures much better 
than themselves, if they do not plunge us into guilt. Many 
of these rules would appear ^easily practicable, if men would 
learn to know the value of time, and particularly to redeem 
it from unnecessary sleep, which wastes many golden hours 
of the day: hours in which many of God's servants are de- 
lighting themselves in him, and drinking in full draughts of 
the water of life ; while these their brethren are slumbering 
upon their beds, and lost in vain dreams, as far below the 
common entertainments of a rational creature, as the pleas- 
ures of the sublimest devotion are above them. 

2. I know likewise, that the mind is very fickle and in- 
constant, and that it is a hard thing to preserve such a gov- 
ernment and authority over our thoughts, as would be very 
desirable, and as the plan I have laid down will require. 
But so much of the honor of God, and so much of our true 
happiness, depends upon it, that I beg you will give me a 
patient and attentive hearing while I am pleading with you, 
and that you will seriously examine the arguments, and then 
judge, whether a care and conduct like that which I have 
advised be not in itself reasonable, and whether it will not 
be highly conducive to your comfort and usefulness in life, 
your peace in death, and the advancement and increase of 
your eternal glory. 

3. Let conscience say, whether such a life as I have de- 
scribed above be not in itself highly reasonable. Look over 
the substance of it again, and bring it under a close exami- 
nation ; for I am very apprehensive that some weak objec- 
tions may rise against the whole, which may in their conse- 
quence affect particulars, against which no reasonable man 
would presume to make any objection at all. Recollect, O 
Christian! and carry it with you in your memory and your 
heart, while you are pursuing this review, that you are the 
creature of God; that you are purchased with the blood of 



166 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



Jesus ; and then say, whether these relations in which you 
stand do not demand all that application and resolution which 
I would engage you to. Suppose all the counsels I have given 
you reduced into practice ; suppose every day begun and con- 
cluded with such devout breathings after God, and such holy 
retirements for morning and evening converse with him and 
with your own heart ; suppose a daily care, in contriving how 
your time may be managed, and in reflecting how it has been 
employed ; suppose this regard to God, this sense of his pres- 
ence, and zeal for his glory, to run through your acts of wor- 
ship, your hours of business and recreation; suppose this at- 
tention to Providence, this guard against temptations, this 
dependence upon divine influence, this government of the 
thoughts in solitude, and of the discourse in company; nay 
I will add further, suppose every particular direction given 
to be pursued, excepting when particular cases occur, with 
respect to which you shall be able in consience to say, 
" I wave it not from indolence and carelessness, but because 
I think it will be just now more pleasing to God to be doing 
something else," which may often happen in human life, 
where general rules are best concerted: suppose, 1 say, all 
this to be done, not for a day or a week, but through the re- 
mainder of life, whether longer or shorter ; and suppose this 
to be reviewed at the close of life, in the full exercise of your 
rational faculties ; will there be reason to say in the reflec- 
tion: " I have taken too much pains in religion; the Author 
of my being did not deserve all this from me ; less diligence, 
less fidelity, less zeal than this, might have been an equivalent 
for the blood which was shed for my redemption. A part 
of my heart, a part of my time, a part of my labors, might 
have sufficed for him, who hath given me all my powers; for 
him who hath delivered me from that destruction, which 
would have made them my everlasting torment ; for him who 
is raising me to the regions of a blissful immortality." 
Can you with any face say this! If you cannot, then surely 
your conscience bears witness, that all I have recommended, 
under the limitations above, is reasonable ; that duty and 
gratitude require it ; and consequently, that, by every allow- 
ed failure in it, you bring guilt upon your own soul, you of- 
fend God, and act unworthy of your Christian profession, 

4. I entreat you further to consider, whether such a con- 
duct as I have now been recommending, would not conduce 
much to your comfort and usefulness in life. Reflect seriously 
what i.s true happiness! Does it consist in distance from 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 167 

God, or in nearness to him! Surely you cannot be a Christ- 
ian, surely you cannot be a rational man, if you doubt wheth- 
er communion with the great Father of our spirits be a 
pleasure and felicity ; and if it be, then surely they enjoy 
most of it, who keep him most constantly in view. You 
cannot but know, in your own conscience, that it is this which 
makes the happiness of heaven; and therefore the more of it 
any man enjoys upon earth, the more of heaven comes down 
into his soul. If you have made any trial of religion, though 
it be but a few months, or weeks since you first became ac- 
quainted with it, you must be some judge, from your own 
experience, which have been the most pleasant days of your 
life. Have they not been those in which you have acted most 
upon these principles! those in which you have most steadily 
and resolutely carried them through every hour of time, and 
every circumstance of life! The check which you must, in 
many instances, give to your own inclinations, might seem 
disagreeable : but it would surely be overbalanced, in a most 
happy manner, by the satisfaction you would find in a con- 
sciousness of self-government ; in having such a command of 
your thoughts, affections, and actions, as is much more glo- 
rious than any authority over others can be. 

5. I would also entreat you to consider the influence which 
such a conduct as this might have upon the happiness of oth- 
ers. And it is easy to be seen, that it must be very great; 
as you would find your heart always disposed to watch every 
opportunity of doing good, and to seize it with eagerness and 
delight. It would engage you to make it the study and busi- 
ness of your life, to order things in such a manner, that the 
end of one kind and useful action might be the beginning of 
another; in which you would go on as naturally as the infe- 
rior animals do in those productions and actions by which 
mankind are relieved or enriched ; or as the earth bears her 
sucessive crops of different vegetable supplies. And though 
mankind be, in this corrupt state, so unhappily inclined to 
imitate evil examples rather than good, yet it may be expect- 
ed, that, while " your light shines before men," some, " see- 
ing your good works," will endeavor to transcribe them in 
their own lives, and so to " glorify your Father which is in 
heaven." Matt, v, 16. The charm of such beautiful models 
would surely impress some, and incline them at least to at- 
tempt an imitation ; and every attempt would dispose to an- 
other. And thus through the divine goodness, you might be 
entitled to a share in the praise, and the reward, not only of 



168 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

the good you had immediately done yourself, but likewise of 
that which you had engaged others to do. And no eye, but 
that of the all-searching God, can see into what distant times 
or places the blessed consequences may reach. In every in- 
stance in which these consequences appear, it will put a gen- 
erous and sublime joy into your heart which no worldly pros- 
perity could afford, and which would be the liveliest emblem 
of that high delight which the blessed God feels in seeing and 
making his creatures happy. 

6. It is true indeed, that amidst all these pious and benev- 
olent cares, afflictions may come, and in some measure inter- 
rupt you in the midst of your projected schemes. But surely 
these afflictions will be much lighter, w T hen your heart is glad- 
dened w 7 ith the peaceful and joyful reflections of your own 
mind, and with so honorable a testimony of conscience before 
God and man. Delightful will it be to go back to past scene* 
in your pleasing review, and to think that you have not only 
been sincerely humbling yourself for those past offences, 
which afflictions may bring to your remembrance ; but that 
you have given substantial proofs of the sincerity of that hu- 
miliation, by a real reformation of what has been amiss, and 
by acttng with strenuous and vigorous resolution on the con- 
trary principle. And while converse with God, and doing 
good to men, are made the great business and pleasure of life, 
you will find a thousand opportunities of enjoyment, even in 
the midst of these afflictions, which would render you so in- 
capable of relishing the pleasures of sense, that the very men- 
tion of them might, in those circumstances, seem an insult 
and a reproach. 

7. At length death will come, that solemn and important 
hour, which has been passed through by so many thousands 
who have in the main lived such a life, and by so many mil- 
lions who have neglected it. And let conscience say, if there 
was ever one of all these millions, who had any reason to re- 
joice in that neglect; or any one, among the most strict and 
exemplary Christians, who then lamented that his heart and 
life had been too zealously devoted to God. Let conscience 
say, whether they have wished to have a part of that time, 
which they have thus employed, given back to them again, 
that they might be more conformed to this world ; that they 
might plunge themselves deeper into its amusements, or pur- 
sue its honors, its possessions, or its pleasures, with greater 
eagerness than they had done. If you were yourself dying, 
and a dear friend or child stood near you, and this book and 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 169 

the preceding chapter should chance to come into yonr 
thoughts, would you caution that friend or child against con- 
ducting himself by such rules as I have advanced ! The ques- 
tion may perhaps seem unnecessary, where the answer is so 
plain and certain. Well, then, let me beseech you to learn 
now you should live, by reflecting how you would die, and 
what course you would wish to look back upon, when you are 
just quitting this world and entering upon another. Think 
seriously ; what if death should surprise you on a sudden* 
and you should be called into eternity at an hour's or a min- 
ute's warning, would you not wish that your last day should 
have been thus begun ; and the course of it, if it were a day 
of health and activity, should have been thus managed? 
Would you not wish that your Lord should find you engaged 
in such thoughts and such pursuits'? Would not the passage, 
the flight from earth to heaven, be most easy, most pleasant, 
in this view and connexion! And, on the other hand, if 
death should make more gradual approaches, would not the 
remembrance of such a pious, holy, humble, diligent, and 
useful life, make a dying bed much softer and easier than it 
would otherwise be! You would not die, depending upon 
these things. God forbid that you should! Sensible of your 
many imperfections, you would, no doubt, desire to throw 
yourself at the feet of Christ, that you might appear before 
God," adorned with his righteousness, and washed from your 
sins in his blood." You would also, with your dying breath, 
ascribe to the riches of his grace every good disposition yon 
had found in your heart, and every worthy action you had ' 
been enabled to perform.. But would it not give you a de- 
light, worthy of being purchased with ten thousand worlds, 
to reflect, that his " grace, bestowed on you, had not been in 
vain," (1 Cor. xv. 10.) but that you had, from a humble prin- 
ciple of grateful love, ' glorified your heavenly Father on 
earth, and, in some degree, though not with the perfection 
you could desire, " finished the work which he had given you 
to do:" (John, xvii. 4.) that you had been living for many 
past years as on the borders of heaven, and endeavoring to 
form your heart and life to the temper and manners of its 
inhabitants! 

8. And once more, let me entreat you to reflect on the view 
you will have of this matter when you come into a world of 
glory, if (which I hope will be the happy case) divine mercy 
conduct you thither! Will not your reception there be af- 
fected by your care, or negligence, in this holy course! Will 

15 



170 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



it appear an indifferent thing in the eye of the blessed Jesus, 
who distributes the crowns, and allots the thrones there, 
whether you have been among the most zealous, or the most 
indolent of his servants'? Surely you must wish to have" an 
entrance administered unto you abundantly into the kingdom 
of your Lord and Savior," (2 Pet. i. ll.) and what can 
more certainly conduce to it, than to be u always abounding 
in this work]" 1 Cor. xv. 58. You cannot think so meanly 
of that glorious state, as to imagine that you shall there looK 
round about with a secret disappointment, and say in your 
heart, that you over-valued the inheritance you have received, 
and pursued it with too much earnestness. You will not surely 
complain, that it had too many of your thoughts and cares; 
but, on the contrary, you have the highest reason to believe, 
that, if any thing were capable of exciting your indignation 
and your grief there, it would be, that, amidst so many mo- 
tives and so many advantages, you exerted yourself no more 
in the prosecution of such a prize. 

9. But I will not enlarge on so clear a case, and therefore 
conclude the chapter with reminding you, that to allow your- 
self deliberately to sit down satisfied with any imperfect at- 
tainments in religion, and to look upon a more confirmed and 
improved state of it as what you do not desire, nay, as what 
you sincerely resolve that you will not pursue, is one of the 
most fatal signs we can well imagine, that you are an entire 
stranger to the first principles of it. 

A Prayer suited to the State of a Soul, ivho desires to 
attain the Life above recommended. 

" Blessed God! I cannot contradict the force of these 
reasonings: O that I may feel more than ever the lasting ef- 
fects of them! Thou art the great fountain of being and of 
happiness ; and as from thee my being was derived, so from 
thee my happiness directly flows ; and the nearer I am to thee, 
the purer and more delicious is the stream. * With thee is 
the fountain of life ; in thy light may I see light!' Psal. xxxvi. 
1). The great object of my final hope is to dwell forever with 
thee. Give me now some foretaste of that delight! Give 
Boe, I beseech thee, to experience ' the blessedness of that 
man who feareth the Lord, and who delighteth greatly in his 
commandments,' (Psal. cxii. 1.) and so form my heart by 
thy grace, that I may ' be in the fear of the Lord all the day 
long.' Prov. xxiii. 17. 

" To thee may my awakening thoughts be directed: and 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 171 

with the first ray of light that visits my opening eyes, ' lilt 
up, O Lord, the light of thy countenance upon me!' Psal. iv. 
6. When my faculties are roused from that broken state ia 
which they lay, while buried, and, as it were, annihilated ia 
sleep, may my first actions be consecrated to thee, O God, 
who givest me light; who givest me, as it were, every morn-, 
ing a new life and a new reason ! Enable my heart to pour 
out itself before thee with a filial reverence, freedom, and 
endearment! And may I hearken to God, as I desire that 
he should hearken unto me! May thy word be read with at- 
tention aud pleasure! May my soul be delivered into the 
mould of it, and may I f hide it in my heart, that I may not 
sin against thee !' Psal. cxix. 11. Animated by the great 
motives there suggested, may I every morning be renewing 
the dedication of myself to thee, through Jesus Christ thy 
beloved Son ; and be deriving from him new supplies of that 
blessed Spirit of thine, whose influences are the life of my 
soul. 

M And being thus prepared, do thou, Lord, lead me forth 
by the hand to all the duties and events of the day! In that 
calling, wherein thou hast been pleased to call me, may I abide 
with thee, (1 Cor. vii. 20.) not 'being slothful in business/ 
but ' fervent in spirit, serving the Lord !' Rom. xii. 11. May 
I know the value of time, and always improve it to the best 
advantage, in such duties as thou hast assigned me, how low 
soever they may seem, or how painful soever they may be 1 
To thy glory, O Lord, may the labors of life be pursued; 
and to thy glory may the refreshments of it be sought! 
' Whether I eat, or drink, or whatever I do,' (1 Cor. x. 31.) 
may that end still be kept in view, and may it be attained! 
And may every refreshment, and release from business, pre-* 
pare me to serve thee with greater vigor and resolution! 

" May ray eye be watchful to observe the descent of mer-> 
cies from thee ; and may a grateful sense of thy hand in them 
add a savor and relish to all! And when afflictions come., 
which in a world like this I would accustom myself to expect, 
may I remember that they come from thee; and may that 
fully reconcile me to them, while I firmly believe, that the 
same love which gives us our daily bread, appoints us our 
daily crosses ; which I would learn to take up, that I may 
follow my dear Lord, (Mark, viii. 34.) with a temper like 
that which he manifested when ascending Calvary for my 
sake : saying, like him, i The cup which my Father hath 
given mej shall I not drink it!' John, xviii. 11, And wheq 



172 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

I c enter into temptation,' do thou, Lord, ' deliver me from 
evil.' Matt. vi. 13. Make me sensible, I entreat thee, of 
my own weakness, that my heart may be raised to thee for 
present communications of proportionable strength. When 
I am engaged in the society of others, may it be my desire 
and my care, that I may do, and receive, as much good as 
possible ; and may I continually answer the great purposes 
of life, by honoring thee, and diffusing useful knowledge and 
happiness in the world. And when I am alone, may I re- 
member my s heavenly Father is with me ;' and may I enjoy 
the pleasure of thy presence, and feel the animating power 
of it, awakening my soul to an earnest desire to think and 
act, as in thy sight! 

" Thus let my days be spent ; and let them always be closed 
in thy fear, and under a sense of thy gracious presence. 
Meet me, O Lord, in my evening retirements. May I choose 
the most proper time for them ; may I diligently attend to 
reading and prayer ; and when I review my conduct, may I 
do it with an impartial eye. Let not self-love spread a false 
coloring over it ; but may I judge myself, as one that expects 
to be judged of the Lord, and is very solicitous he may be 
approved by thee, who s searcheth all hearts,' and * canst not 
forget any of my works.' Amos, viii. 7. ( Let my prayer 
come before thee as incense,' and i let the lifting up of my 
hands be as the morning and the evening sacrifice.' Psalm, 
cxli. 2. May I resign my powers to sleep in sweet calmness 
and serenity; conscious that I have lived to God in the day, 
and cheerfully persuaded that I am ' accepted of thee in Christ 
Jesus my Lord,' and humbly * hoping in thy mercy through 
him,' whether my days on earth be prolonged, or ' the resi- 
due of them be cut off in the midst.' Isaiah, xxxvii. 10. If 
death comes by a leisurely advance, may it find me thus em- 
ployed ; aud if I am called on a sudden to exchange worlds, 
may my last days and hours be found to have been conducted 
by such maxims as these ; that I may have a sweet and easy 
passage from the services of time to the infinitely nobler serv- 
ices of an immortal state. I ask it through him, who, while on 
earth, was the fairest pattern and example of every virtue and 
grace, and who now lives and reigns with thee, ' able to save 
unto the uttermost :' (Heb. vii. 25.) to him, having done all, I 
would fly, with humble acknowledgment that I am an * un- 
profitable servant ; ' (Luke, xvii. 10.) * to him be glory for- 
ever and ever.' Amen." 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 173 



CHAPTER XXI. 

A CAUTION AGAINST VARIOUS TEMPTATIONS, BY WHICH 
THE YOUNG CONVERT MAY BE DRAWN ASIDE FROM 
THE COURSE RECOMMENDED ABOVE. 

1. Dangers continue, after the first difficulties (considered Chap. 
xvi.) are broken through. — 2. Particular cautions — against a 
sluggish and indolent temper. — 3. Against the excessive love 
of sensitive pleasure. — 4. Leading to a neglect of business and 
needless expense. — 5. Against the snares of vain company.*— 
6. Against excessive hurry of worldly business. — 7. Which 
is enforced by the ratal consequences these have had in many 
cases. — 8. The chapter concludes with an exhortation to die 
to this world, and to live to another. And the young Con- 
vert's prayer for Divine protection against the dangers arising 
from these snares. 

1. The representation I have been making of the pleasure 
and advantage of a life spent in devotedness to God and com- 
munion with him, as I have described it above, will, I hope, 
engage you, my dear reader, to form some purposes, and 
make some attempt to obtain it, But from considering the 
nature, and observing the course of things, it appears exceed- 
ingly evident, that, besides the general opposition which I 
formerly mentioned as like to attend you in your first entrance 
on a religious life, you will find, even that, after you have 
resolutely broke through this, a variety of hindrances in any 
attempts of exemplary piety, and in the prosecution of a re- 
markably strict and edifying course, will present themselves 
daily in your path ; and whereas you may, by a few resolute 
efforts, baffle some of the former sort of enemies, these will 
be perpetually renewing their onsets, and a vigorous struggle 
must be continually maintained with them. Give me leave 
now, therefore, to be particular in my cautions against some 
of the chief of them. And here I would insist upon the dif- 
ficulties which will arise from indolence and the love of pleas- 
ure; from vain company, and worldly cares. Each of these 
may prove ensnaring to any, and especially to young persons, 
to whom I would now have some particular regard. 

2. I entreat you, therefore, in the first place, that you will 
guard against a sluggish and indolent temper. The love of 
ease insinuates itself into the heart under a variety of plausi- 
ble pretences, which are often allowed to pass, when tempt- 
ations of a grosser nature w r ould not be admitted. The 



174 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

misspending a litttle time seems to wise and good men but a 
small matter ; yet this sometimes runs them into great incon- 
veniencies. It often leads them to break in upon the seasons 
regularly allotted to devotion, and to defer business, which 
might immediately be done, but being put off from day to 
day, is not done at all, and thereby the services of life are 
at least diminished, and the rewards of eternity diminished 
proportionably : not to insist upon it, that very frequently this 
lays the soul open to further temptations, by which it falls, 
in consequence of being found unemployed. Be therefore 
suspicious of the first approaches of this kind. Remember 
that the soul of man is an active being, and that must find 
its pleasure in activity. ■" Gird up," therefore, " the loins 
of your mind. 55 1 Peter, i. 13. Endeavor to keep yourself 
always well employed. Be exact, if I may with humble rev- 
erence use the expression, in your appointments with God. 
Meet him early in the morning ; and say not with the slug- 
gard, when the proper hour of rising is come, " A little 
more sleep, a little more slumber." Prov. vi. 10. That time 
which prudence shall advise you, give to conversation and 
to other recreations. But when that is elapsed, and no un- 
foreseen and important engagement prevents, rise and begone. 
Quit the company of your dearest friends, and retire to your 
proper business, whether it be in the field, the shop, or the 
closet. For by acting contrary to the secret dictates of your 
mind, as to what it is just at the present moment best to do, 
though it be but in the manner of spending half an hour, some 
degree of guilt is contracted, and a habit is cherished, which 
may draw after it much worse consequences. Consider, 
therefore, what duties are to be despatched, and in what 
seasons. Form your plan as prudently as you can, and pur- 
sue it resolutely ; unless an unexpected incident arises, 
which leads you to conclude, that duty calls you another way. 
Allowances for such unthought-of interruptions must be made; 
but if, in consequence of this, you are obliged to omit any 
thing of importance which you proposed to have done to- 
day, do it if possible to-morrow ; and do not cut yourself out 
new work, till the former plan be despatched; unless you 
really judge it, not merely more amusing, but more impor- 
tant." And always remember, that a servant of Christ should 
see to it, that he determine on these occasions as in his Mas- 
ter's presence. 

3. Guard also against an excessive love of sensitive and 
animal pleasure, as that which will be a great hindrance to 



RELlGrOtf IN THE SOUL* J 75 

you in that religious course which I have now been urging* 
Vou cannot but know that Christ has told us, " that a man 
must deny himself, and take up his cross daily," if he desire 
to become his disciple. Luke ix. 23. Christ, the Son of 
God, " the former and the heir of all things, pleased not 
himself!" (Rom. xv. 3.) but submitted to want, to diffi- 
culties, and hardships, in the way of duty, and some of them 
of the extremest kind and degree, for the glory of God and 
the salvation of men. In this way we are to follow him; 
and as we know not how soon we may be called, even to 
" resist unto blood, striving against sin," (Heb. xii. 4.) it 
is certainly best to accustom ourselves to that discipline, 
which we may possibly be called out to exercise, even in 
such rigorous heights. A soft and delicate life will give 
force to temptations, which might easily be subdued by one 
who has habituated himself to " endure hardship as a good 
soldier of Jesus Christ." 2 Tim. ii. 8. It also produces an 
attachment to this world, and an unwillingness to leave it, 
which ill becomes those who are strangers and pilgrims on 
earth, and who expect so soon to be called away to that bet- 
ter country which they " profess to seek." Heb. xi. 13, 16. 
Add to this, that, what the world calls a life of pleasure, is 
necessarily a life of expense, too, and may perhaps lead you, 
as it has many others, and especially many who have been 
setting out in the world, beyond the limits which Providence 
has assigned; and so, after a course of indulgence, may pro- 
duce a proportionable want. And while in other cases it is 
true, that pity should be shown to the poor, this is a poverty 
that is justly contemptible, because it is the effect of a man's 
own folly ; and when your want thus " comes upon you as an 
armed man," (Pro v. vi. 11.) you will not only find yourself 
stripped of the capacity you might otherwise have secured 
for performing those works of charity, which are so orna- 
mental to a Christian profession, put probably will be under 
strong temptations to some low artifice or mean compliance, 
quite beneath the Christian character, and that of an upright 
man. Many, who once made a high profession, after a se- 
ries of such sorry and scandalous shifts, have fallen into the 
worst kind of bankrupts ; I mean such as have lavished 
away on themselves what was indeed the property of others, 
and so have injured, and perhaps ruined, the industrious, to 
feed a foolish, luxurious, or ostentatious humor, which, while 
indulged, 'was the shame of their own families, and when it 
can be indulged no longer, is their torment. This will be a 



176 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

terrible reproach to religion : such a reproach to it, that a 
good man would rather choose to live on bread and water, 
or indeed to die for want of them, than to occasion it. 

4. Guard, therefore, I beseech you, against any thing 
which might tend that way, especially by diligence in busi- 
ness, and by prudence and frugality in expense, which, by 
the divine blessing, may have a very happy influence to make 
your affairs prosperous, your health vigorous, and your mind 
easy. But this cannot be attained without keeping a reso- 
lute watch over yourself, and strenuously refusing to comply 
with many proposals, which indolence or sensuality will of- 
fer in very plausible forms, and for which it will plead, 
" that it asks but very little." Take heed, lest in this res- 
pect you imitate those fond parents, who, by indulging their 
children in every little thing they have a mind to, encourage 
them, by insensible degrees, to grow still more encroaching 
and imperious in their demands ; as if they chose to be ruin- 
ed with them, rather than to check them in what seems a 
trifle. Remember, and consider that excellent remark, seal- 
ed by the ruin of so many thousands: "He that despiseth 
small things, shall fall by little and little." 

5. In this view, give me leave also seriously and tenderly 
to caution you, my dear reader, against the snares of vain 
company. I speak not, as before, of that company which is 
openly licentious and profane. I hope there is something now 
in your temper and views, which would engage you to turn 
away from such with detestation and horror. But I beseech 
you to consider, that those companions may be very danger- 
ous, who might at first give you but very little alarm : I mean 
those who, though not the declared enemies of religion, and 
professed followers of vice and disorder, yet nevertheless have 
no practical sense of divine things on their hearts, so far as 
can be judged b} r their conversation and behavior. You must 
often of necessity be with such persons; and Christianity not 
only allows, but requires, that you should, on all expedient 
occasions of intercourse with them, treat them with civility 
and respect; but choose not such for your most intimate fi iends, 
and do not contrive to spend most of your .leisure moments 
among them. For such converse has a sensible tendency to 
alienate the soul from God, and to render it unfit for all spir- 
itual communion with him. To convince you of this, do but 
reflect on your own experience, when you have been for many 
hours together among persons of such a character. Do you 
not find yourself more in !i ■ se la] ^'"OxC^es'l 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 177 

Do you not find your heart, by insensible degrees, more and 
more inclined to a conformity to this world, and to look with 
a secret disrelish on those objects and employments, to which 
reason directs as the noblest and best 1 Observe the first 
symptoms, and guard against the snare in time; and for this 
purpose, endeavor to form friendships founded in piety, and 
supported by it. "Be a companion of them that fear God, 
and of them that keep his precepts." Psalm cxix. 63. You 
well know, that in the sight of God " they are the excellent 
of the earth;" let them therefore "be all your delight." 
Psalm xvi. 3. And that the peculiar benefit of their friend- 
ship may not be lost, endeavor to make the best of the hours 
you spend with them. The wisest of men has observed, that 
when <i counsel in the heart of a man is like deep waters," 
that is, when it lies low and concealed, " a man of under- 
standing will draw it out." Prov. xx. 5. Endeavor, there- 
fore, on such occasions, so far as you can do it with decency 
and convenience, to give the conversation a religious turn. 
And when serious and useful subjects are started in your 
presence, lay hold of them, and cultivate them ; and for that 
purpose, " let the word of Christ dwell richly in you," (Col. 
lii. 1.) and be continually made " the man of your counsel." 
Psalm cxix. 24. 

6. If it be so, it will secure you, not only from the snares 
of idleness and luxury, but from the contagion of every bad 
example. And it will also engage you to guard against those 
excessive hurries of worldly business, which would fill up all 
your time and thoughts, and thereby " choke the good word" 
of God, and render it in a great measure, if not qnite, un- 
fruitful. Matt. xiii. 22. Young people are generally of an 
enterprising disposition: having experienced comparatively 
little of the fatigue of business, and of the disappointments 
and incumbrances of life, they easily swallow them up and 
annihilate them in their imagination, and fancy that their spir- 
it, their application, and address, will be able to encounter 
and surmount every obstacle or hindrance. But the event 
proves it otherwise. Let me entreat you, therefore, to be 
cautious how you plunge yourself into a greater variety of 
business than you are capable of managing as you ought, that 
is, in consistency with the care of your soul, and the service 
of God, which certainly ought not on any pretence to be neg- 
lected. It is true indeed, that a prudent regard to your 
worldly interests would require such a caution ; as it is obvi- 
ous to every careful observer, that multitudes are undone, by 

16 



178 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

grasping at more than they can conveniently manage. Hence 
it has frequently been seen, that, while they have seemed re- 
solved to be rich, they have " pierced themselves through with 
many sorrows,'' (1 Tim. vi. 10.) have ruined their own fam- 
ilies, and drawn down many others into desolation with them. 
Whereas, could they have been contented with moderate em- 
ployments and moderate gains, they might have prospered in 
their business, and might, by sure degrees, under a divine 
blessing, have advanced to great and honorable increase. 
But if there were no danger at all to be apprehended on this 
head, if you were as certain of becoming rich and great, as 
you are of perplexing and fatiguing yourself in the attempt, 
consider, I beseech you, how precarious these enjoyments 
are. Consider, how often £C a plentiful table becomes asnare, 
and that which should have been for a man's welfare, becomes 
a trap." Psalm lxix. 22. Forget not that short lesson, which 
is so comprehensive of the highest wisdom: 4C ooe thing is 
needful:" Luke, x. 42. Be daily thinking, while the gay 
and the great things of life are glittering before your eyes, 
how soon death will come, and impoverish you at once: how 
soon it will strip you of all possessions, but those which a 
naked soul can carry along with it into eternity, when it drops 
the body into the grave. Eternity ! Eternity ! Eter- 
nity ! Carry the view of it about with you, if it be possi- 
ble, through every hour of waking life ; and be fully persuaded, 
that you have no business, no interest in life, that is incon- 
sistent with it; for whatsoever would be injurious in view of 
eternity, is not your business, is not your interest. You see 
indeed, that the generality of men act as if they thought the 
great thing which God requires of them, in order to secure 
iiis favor, was to get as much of the world as possible ; at 
least as much as they can without any gross immorality, and 
without risking the loss of all. Such persons may tell others, 
and perhaps flatter themselves, that they only seek opportu- 
nities of greater usefulness. But in effect, if they mean any 
thing more by this, than a capacity of usefulness, which, when 
they have it, they will not exert, they generally deceive them- 
selves ; and one way or another, it is a vain pretence. In 
most instances men seek the world, — either that they may 
hoard up riches, for the mean and scandalous satisfaction of 
looking upon them while they are living, and of thinking, that, 
when they are dead, it will be said of them, that they have 
left so many hundreds or thousands of pounds behind them ; 
very probably, to ensnare their children, or their heirs, (for 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 179 

the vanity is not peculiar to those who have children of their 
own), — or else that they may lavish away their riches on 
their lusts, and drown themselves in a gulf of sensuality, in 
which, if reason be not lost, religion is soon swallowed up, 
and with it all the noblest pleasures which can enter into the 
heart of man. In this view, the generality of rich people 
appear to me objects of much greater compassion than the 
poor : especially as, wheu both live (which is frequently the 
case) without any fear of God before their eyes, the rich 
abuse the greater variety and abundance of their favors, and 
therefore will probably feel, in that world of future ruin which 
awaits impenitent sinners, a more exquisite sense of their 
misery. 

7. And let me observe to you, my dear reader, lest you 
should think yourself secure from any such danger, that we 
have great reason to apprehend, there are many now in a 
very wretched state, who once thought seriously of religion, 
when they were first setting out, in lower circumstances of 
life; but they have since forsaken God for Mammon, and are 
now priding themselves in those golden chains, which, in all 
probability, before it be long, w 7 ill leave them to remain in 
those of darkness. When, therefore, an attachment to the 
world may be followed with such fatal consequences, " let 
not thine heart envy sinners," (Prov. xxiii. 17.) and do not, 
out of a desire of gaining what they have, be guilty of such 
folly as to expose yourself to this double danger of failing in 
the attempt, or of being undone by the success of it. Con- 
tract your desires; endeavor to be easy and content with a 
little ; and if Providence call you out to act in a larger sphere, 
aubmit to it in obedience to Providence, but number it among 
the trials of life, which it will require a larger proportion of 
grace to bear well. For be assured, that, as affairs and in- 
terests multiply, cares and duties will certainly increase, and 
probably disappointments and sorrows will increase in an 
equal proportion. 

8. On the whole, learn, by divine grace, to die to the pres- 
ent world ; to look upon it as a low state of being, which 
God never intended for the final and complete happiness, or 
the supreme care, of any one of his children : a world, where 
something is indeed to be enjoyed, but chiefly from himself; 
where a great deal is to be borne with patience and resigna- 
tion; and where some important duties are to be performed, 
and a course of discipline to be passed through, by which 
you are to be formed for a better state, to which, as a Christ- 



180 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



ian, you are near, and to which God will call you, perhaps 
on a sudden, but undoubtedly, if you hold on your way, in 
the fittest time and the most convenient manner. Refer, 
therefore, all this to him. Let your hopes and fears, your 
expectations and desires, with regard to this world, be 
kept as low as possible ; and all your thoughts be united, aa 
much as may be, in this one centre : what is it that God 
would, in present circumstances, have you to be ; and what 
is that method of conduct, by which you may most effectually 
please and glorify him. 

The Young Convert's Prayer for Divine Protection 
against the Danger of these Snares. 

" Blessed God! In the midst of ten thousand snares and 
dangers, which surround me from without and from within, 
permit me to look up unto thee with my humble entreaty, that 
thou wouldst ( deliver me from them that rise up against me,' 
(Psalm lix. 1.) and that c thine eyes may be upon me for good.' 
Jer. xxiv. 6. When sloth and indolence are ready to seize 
me, awaken me from that idle dream, with lively and affec- 
tionate views of that invisible and eternal world to which I 
am tending! Remind me of what infinite importance it is, 
that I diligently improve those transient moments, which thou 
hast allotted me as the time of my preparation for it. 

" When sinners entice me, may I not consent! Prov. i. 
10. May holy converse with God give me a disrelish for the 
converse of those who are strangers to thee, and who would 
separate my soul from thee! May I c honor them that fear 
the Lord,' (Psalm xv. 4.) and walking with such wise and 
holy men, may I find I am daily advancing in wisdom and 
holiness ! Prov. xiii. 20. Quicken me, O Lord! by their 
means; that by me thou mayest also quicken others! Make 
me the happy instrument of enkindling and animating the 
flame of divine love in their breasts; and may it catch from 
heart to heart, and grow every moment in its progress. 

" Guard me, O Lord! from the love of sensual pleasure ! 
May I seriously remember, that ' to be carnally-minded is 
death!' Rom. viii. 6. May it please thee therefore, to purify 
and refine my soul by the influence of thine Holy Spirit, that 
I may always shun unlawful gratifications, more solicitously 
than others pursue them ; and that those indulgences of ani- 
mal nature, which thou hast allowed, and which the consti- 
tution of things renders necessary, may be soberly and mod- 
erately used! May I still remember the superior dignity of 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 181 

my spiritual and intelligent nature, and may the pleasures of 
the man and the Christian be sought as my noblest happiness! 
May my soul rise on the wings of holy contemplation, to the 
regions of invisible glory ; and may I be endeavoring to form 
myself, under the influences of divine grace, for the enter- 
tainments of those angelic spirits, that live in thy presence, 
in a happy incapacity of those gross delights, by which spirits 
dwelling in flesh are so often ensnared, and in which they so 
often lose the memory of their high original, and of those no- 
ble hopes which alone are proportionable to it! 

M Give me, O Lord! to know the station in which thou 
hast fixed me, and steadily to pursue the duties of it! But 
deliver me from those excessive cares of this world, which 
would so engross my time and my thoughts, that s the one 
thing needful' should be forgotten! May my desires after 
worldly possessions be moderated, by considering their un- 
certain and unsatisfying nature ; and, while others are laying 
up treasures on earth, may I be * rich towards God! 5 Luke, 
xii. 21. May I never be too busy to attend to thosj great 
affairs, which lie between thee and my soul ; never be so en- 
grossed with the concerns of time, as to neglect the interests 
of eternity! May I pass through earth with my heart and 
hopes set upon heaven, and feel the attractive influence stron- 
ger and stronger as I approach still nearer and nearer to that 
desirable centre ; till the happy moment come, when every 
earthly object shall disappear from my view, and the shining 
glories of the heavenly world shall fill my improved and 
strengthened sight, which shall then be cheered with that 
which would now overwhelm me ! Amen." 



182 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



„ 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE CASE OF SPIRITUAL DECAY AND LANGU 
RELIGION. 

1. Declensions in religion, and relapses into sin, with their sor- 
rowful consequences, are in the general too probable. — 2. The 
case of declension and languor in religion described negatively. 
—3. And positively. — 4. As discovering itself— by a failure in 
the duties of the closet. — 5. By a neglect of social worship. — 
6. By want of love to our fellow Christians.— 7. By an undue 
attachment to sensual pleasures or secular cares. — 8. By preju- 
dices against some important principles in religion.— 9, 10. A 
symptom peculiarly sad and dangerous. — 11. Directions for 
recovery. — 12. Immediately to be pursued. A prayer for one 
under spiritual decays. 

1. If I am so happy as to prevail upon you in the exhor- 
tations and cautions I have given, you will probably go on 
'with pleasure and comfort in religion, and your path will 
generally be " like the morning light, which shineth more 
and more until the perfect day." Prov. iv. 18. Yet I dare 
not flatter myself with an expectation of such success, as 
shall carry you above those varieties of temper, conduct, and 
state, which have been more or less the complaint of the best 
of men. Much do I fear, that, how warmly soever your heart 
may now be impressed with the representation I have been 
making, though the great objects of your faith and hope con- 
tinue unchangeable, your temper towards them will be chang- 
ed. Much do I fear, that you will feel your mind languish 
and tire in the good ways of God ; nay, that you may be 
prevailed upon to take some step out of them, and may thus 
fall a prey H) some of those temptations which you now look 
upon with a holy scorn. The probable consequence of this 
will be, that God will hide his face from you, that he will 
stretch forth his afflicting hand against you, and that you 
still will see your sorrowful moments, how cheerfully soever 
you now be " rejoicing in the Lord, and joying in the God of 
your salvation.' 5 Hab. iii. 18. I hope, therefore, it may be 
of some service, if this too probable event should happen, to 
consider these cases a little more particularly ; and I heartily 
pray, that God would make what I shall say concerning them 
the "means of restoring, comforting, and strengthening your 
soul, if he ever suffers you in any degree to deviate from him. 

2. We will first consider the case of Spiritual Declensions 
and Languor in religion. And here I desire, that, before I 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 1&3 

proceed any further, you would observe, that I do not com- 
prehend under this head every abatement of that fervor which 
a young convert may find when he first becomes experiment- 
ally acquainted with divine things. Our natures are so fram- 
ed, that the novelty of objects strikes them in something of 
a peculiar manner: not to urge, how much more easily our 
passions are impressed in the earlier years of life, than when 
we are more advanced in the journey of it. This, perhaps, 
is not sufficiently considered. Too great a stress is commonly 
laid on the flow of affections ; and for want of this, a Christ- 
ian, who is ripened in grace, and greatly advanced in his 
preparation for glory, may sometimes be led to lament imag- 
inary rather than real decays, and to say, without any just 
foundation, " O that it were with me as in months past f" 
Job, xxix. 2. Therefore, you can hardly be too frequently 
told, that religion consists chiefly " in the 6 resolution of the 
will for God,' and in a constant care to avoid whatever we 
are persuaded he would disapprove, to despatch the work he 
has assigned us in life, and to promote his glory in the hap- 
piness of mankind." To this we are chiefly to attend, look- 
ing in all to the simplicity and purity of those motives from 
which we act, which we know are chiefly regarded by that 
God who searches the heart ; humbling ourselves before him 
at the same time under a sense of our many imperfections, 
and flying to the blood of Christ and the grace of the Gospel. 

3. Having given this precaution, I will now a little more 
particularly describe the case, which I call the state of a 
Christian who is declining in religion; so far as it does not 
fall in with those which I shall consider in the following chap- 
ters. And I must observe, that it chiefly consists " in a for- 
getfulness of divine objects, and a remissness in those various 
duties to which w 7 e stand engaged by thr.t solemn surrender 
which we have made of ourselves to the service of God. ; ' 
There will be a variety of symptoms, according to the differ- 
ent circumstances and relations in which the Christian is plac- 
ed; but some will be of a more universal kind. It will be 
peculiarly proper to touch on these ; and so much the rather, 
as these declensions are often unobserved, like the gray hairs 
which were upon Ephraim, when he knew it not. Hos. vii. 9. 

4. Should you, my reader, fall into this state, it will prob- 
ably first discover itself by a failure in the duties of the clos- 
et. Not that I suppose they will at first, or certainly conclude 
that they will at all, be wholly omitted, but they will be run 
over in a cold and formal manner. Sloth, or some of those 



184 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

other snares which I cautioned you against in the former 
chapter, will so far prevail upon you, that though perhaps vqu 
know and recollect that the proper season of retirement is 
come, you will sometimes indulge yourself upon your bed in 
the morning, sometimes in conversation or business in the 
evening, so as not to have convenient time for it. Or perhaps, 
when you come into your closet at that season, some favorite 
book you are desirous ro read, some correspondence that you 
choose to carry on, or some other amusement, will present 
itself, and plead to be despatched first. This will probably 
take up more time than you imagined ; and then secret prayer 
will be hurried over, and perhaps reading the Scripture quite 
neglected. You will plead, perhaps, that it is but for once ; 
but the same allowance will be made a second and a third 
time ; and it will grow more easy and familiar to you each 
time than it was the last. And thus God will be mocked, 
and your own soul will be defrauded of its spiritual meals, 
if I may be allowed the expression ; the word of God will 
be slighted, and self-examination quite disused; and secret 
prayer itself will grow a burden rather than a delight ; a trif- 
ling ceremony, rather than a devout homage, fit for the ac- 
ceptance of" our Father who is in heaveu." 

5. If immediate and resolute measures be not taken for 
your recovery from these declensions, they will spread further, 
and reach the acts of social worship. You will feel the ef- 
fects in your family and in public ordinances. And if you 
do not feel them, the symptoms will be so much the worse. 
Wandering thoughts will, as it were, eat out the very heart 
of these duties. It is not, I believe, the privilege of the 
most eminent Christians to be entirely free from them ; but 
probably in these circumstances you will find but few inter- 
vals of strict attention, or of any thing which wears the ap- 
pearance of inward devotion. And when these heartless 
duties are concluded, there will scarce be a reflection made, 
how little God hath been enjoyed in them, how little he hath 
been honored by them. Perhaps the sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper, being so admirably adapted to fix the attention of 
the soul, and to excite its warmest exercise of holy affections, 
may be the last ordinance in which these declensions will be 
felt. And yet, who can say that the sacred table is a privi- 
leged place! Having been unnecessarily straitened in your 
preparations, you will attend with less fixedness and enlarge- 
ment of heart than usual. And perhaps a dissatisfaction in 
the review, when there has been a remarkable alienation or 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 185 

insensibility of mind, may occasion a disposition to forsake 
your place and your duty there. And when your spiritual 
enemies have once gained this point upon you, it is probable 
you will fall by swifter degrees than ever, and your resistance, 
to their attempts will grow weaker and weaker. 

6. When your love to God our Father and to the Lord 
Jesus Christ fails, your fervor of Christian affection to your 
brethren in Christ will proportionably decline, and your con- 
cern for usefulness in life abate, especially where any thing 
is to be done for spiritual edification. You will find some 
one excuse or another for the neglect of religious discourse, 
perhaps not only among neighbors and Christian friends, when 
very convenient opportunities offer ; but even with regard to 
those who are members of your own families, and to those 
who, if you are fixed in the superior relations of life, are 
committed to your care. 

7. With this remissness, an attachment either to sensual 
pleasure or to worldly business will increase. For the soul 
must have something to employ it, and something to delight 
itself in ; and as it turns to the one or the other of these, 
temptations of one sort or another will present themselves. 
In some instances, perhaps the strictest bonds of temperance, 
and the regular appointments of life, may be broken in upon, 
through a fondness for company, and the entertainments which 
dften attend it. In other instances, the interests of life ap- 
pearing greater than they did before, and taking up more of 
the mind, contrary interests of other persons may throw you into 
disquietude, or plunge you in debate and contention, in which 
it is extremely difficult to preserve either the serenity or the 
innocence of the soul. And perhaps, if ministers and other 
Christian friends observe this, and endeavor in a plain 
and faithful way to reduce you from your wandering, a false 
delicacy of mind, often contracted in such a state as this, 
will render these attempts extremely disagreeable. The ulcer 
of the soul, if I may be allowed the expression, will not bear 
being touched when it most needs it ; and one of the most 
generous and self-denying instances of Christian friendship 
shall be turned into an occasion of coldness and distaste, yea, 
perhaps of enmity. 

8. And possibly, to sum up all, this disordered state of 
mind may lead you into some prejudices against those very 
principles which might be most effectual for your recovery; 
and your great enemy may succeed so far in his attempts 
against you, as to persuade you that you have lost nothing in 



186 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



religion, when you have almost lost all. He may very prob- 
ably lead you to conclude, that your-former devotional frames 
were mere fits of enthusiasm, and that the holy regularity of 
your walk before God was an unnecessary strictness and 
scrupulosity. Nay, you may think it a great improvement 
in understanding, that you have learnt from some new mas- 
ters, that, if a man treat his fellow creatures with humanity 
and good nature, judging and reviling only those who would 
disturb others by the narrowness of their notions, (for these 
are generally exempted from other objects of the most uni- 
versal and disinterested benevolence so often boasted of), he 
must necessarily be In a very good state, though he pretend 
not to converse much with God, provided that he think re- 
spectfully of him, and do not provoke him by any gross im- 
moralities. 

9. I mention this in the last stage of religious declension, 
because I apprehend that to be its proper place ; and I fear 
it will be found by experience, to stand upon the very con- 
fines of that gross apostacy into deliberate and presumptuous 
sin, which will claim our consideration under the next head. 
And because, too, it is that symptom which most effectually 
tends to prevent the success, and even the use, of any proper 
remedies, in consequence of a fond and fatal apprehension, 
that they are needless. It is, if I may borrow the simile, 
like those fits of lethargic drowsiness, which often precede 
apoplexies and death. 

10. It is by no means my design at this time to reckon up, 
much less to consider at large, those dangerous principles 
which are now ready to possess the mind, and to lay the 
foundation of a false and treacherous peace. Indeed they 
are in different instances various, and sometimes run into 
opposite extremes. But if God awaken you to read your 
Bible with attention, and give you to feel the spirit with 
which it is written, almost every page will flash conviction 
upon the mind, and spread a light to scatter and disperse 
these shades of darkness. 

11. What I chiefly intend in this address, is to engage you, 
if possible, as soon as you perceive the first symptoms of these 
declensions, to be upon your guard, and to endeavor, as speed- 
ily as possible, to recover yourself from them. And I would 
remind you, that the remedy must begin where the first cause 
or complaint prevailed, I mean, in the closet. Take some 
time for recollection, and ask your own conscience, seriously, 
how matters stand between the blessed God and your soul! 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 187 

Whether they are as they once were, and as you could wish 
them to be, if you saw your life just drawing to a period, and 
were to pass immediately into the eternal state! One seri- 
ous thought of eternity shames a thousand vain excuses, with 
which, in the forgetfulness of it, we are ready to delude our 
own souls. And when you feel that secret misgiving of heart, 
which will naturally arise on this occasion, do not endeavor 
to palliate the matter, and to find out slight and artful cover- 
ings, for what you cannot forbear secretly condemning, but 
honestly fall under the conviction, and be humbled for it. 
Pour out your heart before God, and seek the renewed influ- 
ences of his Spirit and grace. Return with more exactness 
to secret devotion, and to self-examination. Read the Scrip- 
ture with yet greater diligence, and especially the more de- 
votional and spiritual parts of it. Labor to ground it in your 
heart, and to feel what you have reason to believe the sacred 
penmen felt when they wrote, so far as circumstances may 
agree. Open your soul, with all simplicity, to every lesson 
which the word of God would teach you ; and guard against 
those things which you perceive to alienate your mind from 
inward religion, though there be nothing criminal in the things 
themselves. They may perhaps in the general be lawful; to 
some possibly they may be expedient ; but if they produce 
such an effect as was mentioned above, it is certain they are 
not convenient for you. In these circumstances, above all, 
seek the converse of those Christians whose progress in re- 
ligion seems most remarkable, and who adorn their profession 
in the most amiable manner. Labor to obtain their temper 
and sentiments, and lay open your case and your heart to 
them, with all the freedom which prudence will permit. Em- 
ploy yourself, at seasons of leisure, in reading practical and 
devotional books, in which the mind and heart of the pious 
author is transfused into the work, and in which you can, as 
it were, taste the genuine spirit of Christianity. And to con- 
clude, take the first opportunity that presents, of making an 
approach to the table of the Lord, and spare neither time nor 
pains in the most serious preparation for it. There renew 
your covenant with God ; put your soul anew into the hands 
of Christ, and endeavor to view the wonders of his dying 
love, in such a manner as may rekindle the languishing flame, 
and quicken you to more vigorous resolutions than ever, "to 
live unto him who died for you." 2 Cor. v. 15. And watch 
over your own heart, that the good impressions you then felt 
may continue. Rest not, till you have obtained as confirmed 



188 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



a state of religion as you ever knew. Rest not, till you have 
made a greater progress than before ; for it is only by a zeal 
to go forward, that you can be secure from the danger of go- 
ing backward, and revolting more and more. 

12. I only add, that it is necessary to take these precau- 
tions as soon as possible, or you will probably find a much 
swifter progress than you are aware in the downhill road; and 
you may possibly be left of God, to fall into some gross and 
aggravated sins, so as to fill your conscience with an agony 
and horror, which the pain of "broken bones" (Psal. li. 8.) 
can but imperfectly express. 

A Prayer for one under Spiritual Decays, 
ec Eternal and unchangeable Jehovah! thy perfections and 
glories are, like thy being, immutable.. Jesus thy Son is 
' the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.' Heb. xiii. 8. 
The eternal world, to which I am hastening, is always equally 
important, and presses upon the attentive mind for a more 
fixed and solemn regard, in proportion to the degree in which 
it comes nearer and nearer. But, alas! my views, and my 
affections, and my best resolutions, are continually varying, 
like this poor body, which goes through daily and hourly al- 
terations in its state and circumstances. Whence, O Lord! 
whence this sad change which I now experience, in the frame 
and temper of my mind toward thee'? Whence this aliena- 
tion of my soul from thee'? Why can I not come to thee with 
all the endearments of filial love, as I once could! Why is thy 
service so remissly attended, if attended at ah"? And why 
are the exercises of it, which were once my greatest pleas- 
ure, become a burden to me! Where, O God! is the bles- 
sedness I once spake of, (Gal. iv. 15.) when my joy in thee 
as my Heavenly Father was so conspicuous that strangers 
might have observed it, and when my heart did so overflow 
with love to thee, and with zeal for thy service, that it was 
matter of self-denial to me, to limit and restrain the genuine 
expressions of those strong emotions of my soul, even where 
prudence and duty required it! 

"Alas, Lord! whither am I fallen! Thine eye sees me 
fitill; but, oh! how unlike what it once saw me! Cold and 
insensible as I am, I must blush on the reflection. Thou 
'seest me in secret,' (Matt. vi. 6.) and seest me, perhaps, 
often amusing myself with trifles, in those seasons which I 
used solemnly to devote to thine immediate service. Thou 
seest me coming into thy presence as by constraint ; and when 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 189 

I am before thee, so straitened in my spirit, that I hardly 
know what to say to thee, though thou art the God with whom 
I have to do ; and though the keeping up a humble and duti- 
ful correspondence with thee is, beyond all comparison, the 
most important business of my life. And even when I am 
speaking to thee, with how much coldness and formality is it! 
It is perhaps the work of imagination, the labor of the lips; 
but where are those ardent desires, those intense breathings 
after God, which I once felt'? Where is that pleasing repose 
in thee, which I was once conscious of, as being near my di- 
vine rest, as being happy in that nearness, and resolving that, 
if possible, I would no more be removed from it! But, oh! 
how far am I now removed! When these short devotions, 
if they may be called devotions, are over, in what long in- 
tervals do I forget thee, and appear so little animated with 
thy love, so little devoted to thy service, that a stranger might 
converse with me a considerable time, without knowing that 
I had ever formed any acquaintance with thee, without dis- 
covering that I had so much as known or heard any thing of 
God! Thou callest me to thine house, O Lord! on thine 
own day : but how heartless are my services there ! I pre- 
sent thee no more than my body : my thoughts and affections 
are engrossed with other objects, while I ( draw near thee 
■with my mouth, and honor thee with my lips.' Isaiah, xxix. 
13. Thou callest me to thy table ; but my heart is so frozen, 
that it hardly melts even at the foot of the cross, hardly feels 
any efficacy in the blood of Jesus. O wretched creature that 
I "am! Unworthy of being called thine! Unworthy of a 
place among thy children, or of the meanest situation in thy 
family: rather worthy to be cast out, to be forsaken, yea, to 
be utterly destroyed! 

"Is this, Lord, the service which I once promised, and 
which thou hast so many thousand reasons to expect! Are 
these the returns I am making for thy daily providential care, 
for the sacrifice of thy Son, for the communications of thy 
Spirit, for the pardon of my numberless aggravated sins, for 
the hopes, the undeserved and so often forfeited hopes of eter- 
nal glory! Lord, I am ashamed to stand or kneel before 
thee. But pity me, I beseech thee, and help me ; for I am 
a pitable object indeed ; my soul cleaveth unto the dust, and 
lays itself as in the dust before thee ; but, O quicken me ac- 
cording to thy word ! Psalm cxix. 25. Let me trifle no long- 
er ,|for I am upon the brink of a precipice! I am thinking 
of my ways : O give me grace to turn my feet unto thy tea- 






190 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

timonies, to make haste without any further delay, that I may 
keep thy commandments! Psalm cxix. 59, 60. Search me, 
O Lord! and try me. Psalm cxxxix. 23. Go to the first root 
of this distemper, which spreads itself over my soul, and re- 
cover me from it! Represent sin unto me, O Lord! I beseech 
thee, that I may see it with abhorrence! And represent the 
Lord Jesus Christ to me in such a light, that I may look upon 
him and mourn, (Zech. vii. 10.) that I may look upon him 
and love! May I awaken from this stupid lethargy into 
which I am sinking, and may Christ give me more abundant 
degrees of spiritual life and activity than I have ever yet re- 
ceived! And may I be so quickened and animated by him, 
that I may more than recover the ground I have lost, and 
may make a more speedy and exemplary progress than in 
my best days I have ever yet done! Send down upon me, O 
Lord! in a more rich and abundant effusion, thy good Spirit. 
May he dwell in me as a temple which he has consecrated to 
himself! (1 Cor. iii. 16.) and while all the service is direct- 
ed and governed by him, may holy and acceptable sacrifices 
be continually offered! Rom. xii. 1. May the incense be 
constant, and may it be fragrant! May the sacred fire burn 
and blaze perpetually! Lev. vi. 13. And may none of its 
vessels ever be profaned, by being employed to an unholy or 
forbidden use! Amen." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE SAD CASE OF A RELAPSE INTO KNOWN AND DE- 
LIBERATE SIN, AFTER SOLEMN ACTS OF DEDICATION 
TO GOD AND SOME PROGRESS MADE IN RELIGION. 

1. Unthought of relapses may happen — 2. and bring the soul in- 
to a miserable case. — 3. Yet the case is not desperate. — 4. The 
backslider urged immediately to return, by deep humiliation 
before God for so aggravated an offence. — 5. By renewed re- 
gards to the divine mercy in Christ. — 6. By an open profession 
of repentance, where the crime hath given public offence. — 7. 
Falls to be reviewed for future caution. — 8. The chapter con- 
cludes with a prayer for the use of one who hath fallen into 
gross sins, after religious resolutions and engagements. 

1. The declensions which I have described in the forego- 
ing chapter, must be acknowledged worthy of deep lamenta- 
tion; but happy will you be, my dear reader, if you never 
know, by experience, a circumstance yet more melancholy 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 191 

than this. Perhaps, when you consider the view of things 
which you now have, you imagine that no considerations can 
ever bribe you, in any single instance, to act contrary to the 
present dictates or suggestions of your conscience, and of 
the Spirit of God by which it is enlightened and directed. 
No: you think it would be better for you to die. And you 
think rightly ; but Peter thought and said so too ; " Though 
I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee," (Matt, 
xxvi. 35.) and yet, after all, he fell; and therefore "be not 
high-minded, but fear." Rom. xi. 20. It is not impossible 
but you may fall into that very sin, of which you imagine 
you are least in danger, or into that against which you have 
most solemnly resolved, and of which you have already most 
bitterly repented. You may relapse into it again and again. 
But, O! if you do, nay, if you should deliberately and pre- 
sumptuously fall but once, how deep will it pierce your heart! 
How dear will you pay for all the pleasure with which the 
temptation has been accompanied! How will this separate 
between God and you! What a desolation, what a dreadful 
desolation will it spread over your soul! It is grevious to 
think of it. Perhaps in such a state you may feel more ago- 
ny and distress in your own conscience, when you come se- 
riously to reflect, than you ever felt when you were- first 
awakened and reclaimed; because the sin will be attended 
with some very high aggravations, beyond those of your un- 
regenerate state. I well know the person that said, " The 
agonies of a sinner, in the first pangs of his repentance, are 
not to be mentioned on the same day with those of ' the back- 
slider in heart,' when he comes to be ■ filled with his own 
way.' " Prov. xiv. 14. 

2. Indeed, it is enough to wound one's heart to think how 
yours will be wounded ; how all your comforts, all your evi- 
dences, all your hopes, will be clouded ; what thick darkness 
will spread itself on every side; so that neither sun, nor 
moon, nor stars, will appear in your heaven. Your spiritual 
consolations will be gone ; and your temporal enjoyments will 
also be rendered tasteless and insipid. And if afflictions be 
gent, as they probably may, in order to reclaim you, a con- 
sciousness of guilt will sharpen and envenom the dart. Then 
will the enemy of your soul, with all his art and power, rise 
up against you, encouraged by your fall, and laboring to tram- 
ple you down in utter, hopeless ruin. He will persuade you, 
that you are already undone beyond recovery. He will sug- 
gest, that it signifies nothing to attempt it any more ; for that 




192 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

every effort, every amendment, every act of repentance, will 
but make your case so much the worse, and plunge you lower 
and lower into hell. 

3. Thus will he endeavor by terrors to keep you from that 
sure remedy which yet remains. But yield not to him. 
Your case will indeed be sad; and if it be now your case, 
it is deplorably so ; and to rest in it, would be still much 
worse. Your heart would be hardened yet more and more; 
and nothing could be expected, but sudden and aggravated 
destruction. Yet, blessed be God, it is not quite hopeless. 
Your "wounds are corrupted, because of your foolishness," 
(Psalm xxxviii. 5.) but the gangrene is not incurable. 
{i There is a balm in Gilead, there is a physician there." 
Jer. viii. 22. Do not therefore render your condition hopeless, 
by now saying, " There is no hope," (Jer. ii. 25.) and by 
drawing a fatal argument from a false supposition, " for going 
after the idols you have loved." Let me address you in the 
language of God to his backsliding people, when they were 
ready to apprehend that to be their case, and to draw such a 
conclusion from it: " only return unto me, saith the Lord." 
Jer. iii. 13. Cry for renewed grace ; and in the strength of 
it labor to return. Cry with David, under the like guilt, 
" I have gone astray like a lost sheep ; seek thy servant, for 
I do not forget thy commandments;" (Psal. cxix. 176.) and 
that remembrance of them is, I hope, a token for good. But 
if thou wilt return at all, do it immediately. Take not one 
step more in that fatal path, to which thou hast turned aside. 
Think not to add one sin more to the account, and then to 
repent; as if it would be but the same thing on the whole. 
The second error may be worse than the first ; it may make 
way for another and another, and draw on a terrible train of 
consequences, beyond all you can now imagine. Make haste, 
therefore, and do not delay. " Escape, and fly as for thy 
life," (Gen. xix. 17.) before "the dart strike through thy 
liver." Prov. vii. 23. " Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor 
slumber to thine eyelids," (Prov. vi. 4.) lie not down upon 
thy bed under unpardoned guilt, lest evil overtake thee, lest 
the sword of divine justice should smite thee, and, whilst thou 
purposest to return to-morrow, thou shouldst this night go 
and take possession of hell. 

4. Return immediately, and, permit me to add, return sol- 
emnly. Some very pious and excellent divines have express- 
ed themselves upon this head, in a manner which seems lia- 
ble to dangerous abuse: when they urge men after a fall, 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 293 

" not to stay to survey the ground, nor consider how they 
came to be thrown down, but immediately to get up and re- 
new the race." In slighter cases the advice is good; but 
when conscience has suffered such violent outrage, by the 
commission of known, wilful, and deliberate sin, (a case 
which one would hope should but seldom happen to those who 
have once sincerely entered on a religious course), I can by 
no means think that either reason or Scripture encourages 
such a method. Especially would it be improper, if the ac- 
tion itself had been of so heinous a. nature, that even to have 
fallen into it on the most sudden surprise of temptation, must 
have greatly ashamed, and terrified, and distressed the soul. 
Such an affair is dreadfully solemn, and should be treated ac- 
cordingly. If this has been the sad case with you, my then 
unhappy reader, I would pity you, and mourn over you ; and 
would beseech you, as you value your peace, your recovery, 
the health and the very life of your soul, that you would not 
loiter away an hour. Retire immediately for serious reflec- 
tion. Break through other engagements and employments, 
unless they be such as you cannot in conscience delay for a 
few hours, which can seldom happen- in the circumstance I 
now suppose. Set yourself to it, therefore, as in the presence 
of God, and hear at large, patiently and humbly, what con- 
science has to say, though it chide and reproach severely* 
Yea, earnestly pray that God would speak to you by con- 
science, and make you more thoroughly to know and feel, 
" what an evil and bitter thing it is, that you have thus for- 
saken him." Jer. ii. 19. Think of all the aggravating cir- 
cumstances attending your offence;, and especially think of 
those which arise from abused mercy and goodness ; which 
arise, not only from your solemn vows and engagements to 
God, but from the views you have had of a Redeemer's love, 
sealed even in blood. And are these the returns'? Was it 
not enough that Christ should have been thus injured by his 
enemies'? Must he be " wounded in the house of his friends" 
tool Zech. xiii. 6. Were " you delivered to work such abom- 
inations as these?" Jer. vii. 10. Did the blessed Jesus groan 
and die for you, that you might sin with boldness and freedom, 
that you might extract, as it were, the very spirit and essence 
of sin, and offend God to a height of ingratitude and base- 
ness, which would otherwise have been, in the nature of things, 
impossible! O think, how justly God might " cast you out 
from his presence!" How justly he might number you among 
the most signal instances of his vengeance! And think how 

17 



194 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

" your heart would endure, or your hands be strong," if he 
should "deal thus with you!" Ezek> xxii. 14. Alas! all 
your former experiences would enhance your sense of the ruin 
and misery that must be felt in an eternal banishment from 
the divine presence and favor. 

5. Indulge such reflections as these. Stand the humbling 
sight of your sins in such a view as this. The more odious 
and the more painful it appears, the greater prospect there 
will be of your benefit by attending to it. But the matter is 
not to rest here. All these reflections are intended, not to 
grieve, but to cure; and to grieve no more than may promote 
the cure. You are indeed to look upon sin; but you are also, 
in such circumstances, if ever, to look upon Christ, to look 
upon him whom you have now pierced deeper than before, 
and to mourn for him with sincerity and tenderness. Zech. 
xii. 10. The God whom you have injured and affronted, 
whose laws you have broken, and whose justice you have, as 
it were, challenged by this foolish, wretched apostacy, is nev- 
ertheless "a most merciful God," Deut. iv. 31. You can- 
not be so ready to return to him, as he is to receive you. 
Even now does he, as it were, solicit a reconciliation, by 
those tender impressions which he is making upon your heart. 
But remember how he will be reconciled. It is in the very 
same way in which you made your first approach to him, in 
ihe name and for the sake of his dear Son. Come there- 
fore in an humble dependence upon him. Renew your ap- 
plication to Jesus, that his blood may, as it were, be sprink- 
led upon your soul, that your soul may thereby be purified, 
and your guilt removed. This very sin of yours, which the 
blessed God foresaw, increased the weight of your Redeem- 
er's sufferings: it was concerned in shedding his blood. Hum- 
bly go, and place your wounds, as it were, under the drop- 
pings of that precious balm, by which alone they can be 
healed* That compassionate Savior will delight to restore 
vou, when you lie as an humble suppliant at his feet, and will 
graciously take part with you in that peace and pleasure 
nhich he gives. Through him renew your covenant with 
God, that broken covenant, the breach of which divine jus- 
tice might teach you to know "by terrible things in right- 
eousness:" (Psal. Ixv. 5.) but mercy allows of an accommo- 
dation. Let the consciousness and remembrance of that 
befeach engage you to enter into covenant anew, under a deeper 
geuse than ever of your own weakness, and a more cordial 
-impendence on divine grace for your security, than you have 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 195 

ever yet entertained. I know you will be ashamed to present 
yourself among the children of God in his sanctuary, and es- 
pecially at his table, under a consciousness of so much guilt ; 
but break through that shame, if Providence open you the 
way. You would be humbled before your offended Father ; 
but surely there is no place where you are more likely to be 
humbled, than when you see yourself in his house, and no 
ordinance administered there can lay you lower than that in 
which " Christ is evidently set forth as crucified before your 
eyes." Gal. iii. 1. Sinners are the only persons who have 
business there. The best of men come to that sacred table 
as sinners. As such make your approach to it; yea, as the 
greatest of sinners, as one who needs the blood of Jesus a§ 
much as any creature upon earth. 

6. And let me remind you of one thing more. If your fall 
has been of such a nature as to give any scandal to others, 
be not at all concerned to save appearances, and to moderate 
those mortifications which deep humiliation before them 
would occasion. The depth and pain of that mortification 
is indeed an excellent medicine, which God has in his wise 
goodness appointed for you in such circumstances as these. 
In such a case, confess your fault with the greatest frankness ; 
aggravate it to the utmost ; entreat pardon and prayer from 
those whom you have offended, Then, and never till theu, 
will you be in the way to peace; not by palliating a fault, 
not by making vain excuses, not by objecting to the manner 
in which others may have treated you ; as if the least excess 
of rigor in a faithful admonition were a crime equal to some 
great immorality that occasioned it. This can only proceed 
from the madness of pride and self-love ; it is the sensibility 
of a wound, which is hardened, swelled, and inflamed; and 
it must be reduced, and cooled, and suppled, before it can 
possibly be cured. To be censured and condemned by men, 
will be but a grievance to a soul thoroughly humbled and 
broken under a sense of having incurred the condemning sen- 
tence of God. Such a one will rather desire to glorify God, 
by submitting to deserved blame ; and will fear deceiving oth- 
ers, into a more favorable opinion of himself, than he in- 
wardly knows that he deserves. These are the sentiments 
which God gives to the sincere penitent in such a case ; and 
by this means he restores him to that credit and regard among 
others, which he does not know how to seek ; but which, 
nevertheless, for the sake both of his comfort and usefulness, 
God wills that he should have, and which it is, humanly speak" 



196 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



wg, impossible for him to recover any other way. But there 
is something so honorable in the frank acknowledgment of 
a fault, and in deep humiliation for it, that all who see it 
must needs approve it. They pity an offender who is brought 
to such a disposition, and endeavor to comfort him with re- 
turning expressions, not only of their love, but of their esteem 
too. 

7. Excuse this digression, which may suit some cases ; and 
which would suit many more, if a regular discipline were to 
be exercised in churches; for, on such a supposition, the 
Lord's Supper could not be approached after visible and scan- 
dalous falls, without solemn confession of the offence, and 
declarations of repentance- On the other hand, there may 
be instances of sad apostacy, where the crime, though highly 
aggravated before God, may not fall under human notice. In 
this case, remember that your business is with him, to whose 
piercing eye every thing appears in its just light : before him, 
therefore, prostrate your soul, and seek a solemn reconcilia- 
tion with him, confirmed by the memorials of his dying Son. 
And when this is done, imagine not, that, because you have 
received the tokens of pardon, the guilt of your apostacy is 
to be forgot at once. Bear it still in your memory for future 
caution: lament it before God, especially in the frequent re- 
turns of secret devotion ; and view with humiliation the sears 
of those wounds which your own folly occasioned, even when 
by divine grace they are thoroughly healed. For God estab- 
lishes his covenant, not to remove the sense of every past abom- 
ination, but " that thou mayest remember thy ways, and be 
confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of 
thy shame, even when I am pacified toward thee for all that 
thou hast done, saith the Lord." Ezek. xvi. 63. 

8. And now, upon the whole, if you desire to attain such 
a temper, and to return by such steps as these, then immedi- 
ately fall down before God, and pour out your heart in his 
presence, in language like this- 

A Prayer for one who has fallen into gross Sin, after 
religious Resolutions and Engagements. 
et O most Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God ! when I seriously 
reflect on thy spotless purity, and on the strict and impartial 
methods of thy steady administration, together with that al- 
mighty power of thine, which is able to carry every thought 
of thine heart into immediate and full execution, I may justly 
appear before thee this day with shame and terror, in con- 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 197 

fusion and consternation of spirit. This day, O my God! 
this dark, mournful day, would I take occasion to look back 
to that sad source of our guilt and our misery, the apo6tacy 
of our common parents, and say with thine offending servant 
David, £ Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my 
mother conceive me.' Psalm li. 5. This day would I lament 
all the fatal consequences of such a descent, with regard to 
myself. And, oh how many have they been! The remem- 
brance of the sins of my unconverted state, and the failings 
and infirmities of my after life, may justly confound me! 
How much more such a scene as now lies before my con- 
science, and before thine all-seeing eye ! For theu, O Lord! 
f knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from thee.' 
Psalm lxix. 5. Thou tellest all my wanderings from thy 
statutes, (Psalm lvi. 8.) thou seest, and thou recordest, every 
instance of my disobedience to thee, and of my rebellion 
against thee. Thou seest them in every aggravated circum- 
stance which I can discern, and in many more which I have 
never observed or reflected upon. How then shall I appear 
in thy presence, or lift up my face to thee! Ezra, ix. 6. I 
am full of confusion, (Job, x. 15.) and feel a secret regret 
in the thought of applying to thee ; but, ( O Lord, to whom 
shall I go but unto thee!' John, vi. 68. Unto thee, on whom 
depends my life or my death ; unto thee, who alone canst take 
away the burden of guilt which now presses me down to the 
dust ; who alone canst restore to my soul that rest and peace 
which I have lost, and which I deserve forever to lose! 

" Behold me, O Lord God! falling down at thy feet ! Be- 
hold me pleading guilty in thy presence, and surrendering 
myself to that justice which I cannot escape! I have not 
one word to offer in my own vindication, in my own excuse. 
Words, far from being able to clear up my innocence, can 
never sufficiently describe the enormity and demerit of my 
sin. Thou, O Lord! and thou only, knowest to the full, how 
heinous and how aggravated it is. Thine infinite understand- 
ing alone can fathom the infinite depth of its malignity. I 
am, on many accounts, most unable to do it. I cannot con- 
ceive the glory of thy sacred Majesty, whose authority I have 
despised, nor the number and variety of those mercies which 
I have sinned against. I cannot conceive the value of the 
blood of thy dear Son, which I have ungratefully trampled 
under my feet; nor the dignity of that blessed Spirit of thine^ 
whose agency I have, as far as I could, been endeavoring to 
oppose, and whose work I have been, as with all my might, 



198 



RISE AND PROGRESS OP 



laboring to undo ; and to tear up, as it were, that plantation 
of his grace, which I should rather have been willing to hav 
guarded with my life, and watered with my blood. O the 
baseness and madness of my conduct! That I should thus 
as it were, rend open the wounds of my soul, of which I had 
died long ere this, had not thine own hand applied a remedy, 
had not thine only Son bled to prepare it ! That I should 
violate the covenant I had made with thee by sacrifice, (Psal. 
1. 5.) by the memorials of such a sacrifice too, even of Jesus, 
my Lord, whereby I am become guilty of his body and blood. 
1 Cor. xi. 27. That I should bring such dishonor upon re- 
ligion too, by so unsuitable a walk, and perhaps open the 
mouths of its greatest enemies to insult it upon my account, 
and prejudice some against it to their everlasting destruction. 

" I wonder, O Lord God! that I am here to own all this. 
I wonder that thou hast not long ago appeared as a swift wit- 
ness against me, (Mai. iii. 5.) that thou hast not discharged 
the thunderbolts of thy flaming wrath against me, and crush- 
ed me into hell ; making me there a terror to all about me, 
as well as to myself, by a vengeance and ruin, to be distin- 
guished even there, where all are miserable, and all hopeless. 

" O God ! thy patience is marvellous! But how much more 
marvellous is thy grace, which, after all this, invites me to 
thee ! While I am here giving judgment against myself, 
that I deserve to die, to die forever, thou art sending me the 
words of everlasting life, and < calling me, as a backsliding 
child, to return unto thee. 5 Jer. iii. 22. Behold, therefore, 

Lord ! invited by thy word, and encouraged by thy grace, 

1 come ; and great as my transgressions are, I humbly be- 
seech thee freely to pardon them; because I know, that, 
though c my sins have reached unto heaven,' (Rev. xviii. 5.) 
and are ' lifted up even unto the skies, 5 (Jer. li. 9.) ( thy mer- 
cy,' O Lord ! ( is above the heavens.' Psalm cviii. 4. Ex- 
tend that mercy to me, O heavenly Father ! and display, in 
this illustrious instance, the riches of thy grace and the prev- 
alency of thy Son's blood ! For surely, if such crimson sins 
as mine may be made ' white as snow and as wool,' (Isa. 1, 
12.) and if such a revolter as I am be brought to eter- 
nal glory, earth must, so far as it is known, be filled with 
wonder, and heaven with praise ; and the greatest sinner may 
cheerfully apply for pardon, if I, ' the chief of sinners,' find 
it. And, Oh ! that, when I have lain mourning, and as it 
were bleeding at thy feet, as long as thou thinkest proper, 
thou wouldst at length * heal this soul of mine' which has 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 199 

sinned against thee, (Psalm xli. 4.) and i give me beauty for 
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise 
for the spirit of heaviness !' Isa. lxi. 3. O that thou wouldst 
at length ( restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and make 
me to hear songs of gladness, that the bones which thou hast 
broken may rejoice !' Psalm li. 8, 12. Then, when a sense 
of thy forgiving love is shed abroad upon my heart, and it 
is cheered with the voice of pardon, I will proclaim thy 
grace to others ; s I will teach transgressors thy ways, and 
sinners shall be converted unto thee :' (Psalm li, 13.) those 
that have been backsliding from thee shall be encouraged to 
seek thee, by my happy experience, which I will gladly pro- 
claim for thy glory, though it be to my own shame and con- 
fusion of face. And may this ( joy of the Lord be my strength ! J 
(Neh. viii. 10.) so that in it I may serve thee henceforward 
with a vigor and zeal far beyond what I have hitherto 
known ! This I would ask with all humble submission to 
thy will, for I presume not to insist upon it. If thou shouldst 
see fit to make me a warning to others, by appointing that 
I should walk all my days in darkness and at last die under 
a cloud, c thy will be done !' But O God ! extend mercy, for 
thy Son's sake, to this sinful soul at last, and give me some 
place, though it were at the feet of all thy other servants, in 
the regions of glory ! O bring me at length, though it should 
be through the gloomiest valley that any have ever passed, 
into that blessed world, where I shall depart from God no 
more, where 1 shall wound my own conscience, and dishon- 
or thy holy name no more ! Then shall my tongue be loos- 
ed, how long soever it might here be bound under the confu- 
sion of guilt; and immortal praises shall be paid to that vic- 
torious blood, which has redeemed such an infamous slave 
of sin, as I must acknowledge myself to be, and brought me, 
from returns into bondage and repeated pollution, to share 
the dignity and holiness of those who are i kings and priests 
unto God.* Rev. i. 6. Amen." 



200 RISK AND PROGRESS OF 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE CASE OF THE CHRISTIAN UNDER THE HIDINGS 
OF GOD'S FACE. 

1. The phrase scriptural. — 2. It signifies the withdrawing the to- 
kens of the divine favor, — 3. chiefly as to spiritual considera- 
tions. — 4. This may become the case of any Christian, — 5. and 
will be found a very sorrowful one. — 6. The following direc- 
tions, therefore, are given to those who suppose it to be their 
own : To inquire whether it be indeed a case of spiritual dis- 
tress, or whether a disconsolate frame may not proceed from 
indisposition of body, — 7. or difficulties as to worldly circum- 
stances. — 8, 9. If it be found to be indeed such as the title of 
the chapter proposes, be advised — to consider it as a merciful 
dispensation of God, to awaken and bestir the soul, and excite 
to a strict examination of conscience, and reformation of what 
has been amiss. — 10. To be bumble and patient while the trial 
continues. — 11. To go on steadily in the way of duty. — 12. To 
renew a believing application to the blood of Jesus. An hum- 
ble supplication for one under these mournful exercises of 
mind, when they are found to proceed from the spiritual case 
supposed* 

1. There is a case which often occurs in the Christian 
life, which they who accustom themselves much to the exer- 
cises of devotion have been used to call the " hiding of God's 
face." It is a phrase borrowed from the word of God, 
which I hope may shelter it from contempt at the first hear- 
ing. It will be my business in this chapter to state it as 
plainly as 1 can, and then to give some advice as to your 
own conduct when you fall into it, as it is very probable you 
may, before you have finished your journey through this wil~ 
derness. 

2. The meaning of it may partly be understood by the 
opposite phrase of God's M causing his face to shine upon a 
person, or lifting up upon him the light of his countenance." 
This seems to carry in it an allusion to the pleasant and de- 
lightful appearance which the face of a friend has, and es- 
pecially if in a superior relation of life, when he converses 
with those whom he loves and delights in. Thus Job, when 
speaking of the regard paid him by his attendants, says, " If 
I smiled upon them, they believed it not, and the light of my 
countenance they cast not down," (Job, xxix. 24.) that is, 
they were careful, in such agreeable circumstances, to do 
nothing to displease me, or (as we speak) to cloud my 
brow. And David, when expressing his desire of the mam- 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 201 

festation of God's favor to him, says, " Lord, lift thou up the 
light of thy countenance upon me;" and as the effect of 
it, declares, " thou hast put gladness into my heart more 
than if corn and wine increased." Psalm iv. 6, 7. Nor 
is it impossible, that, in this phrase as used by David, there 
may be some allusion to the bright shining forth of the She- 
kinah, that is, the lustre which dwelt in the cloud as the vis- 
ible sign of the divine presence with Israel, which God was 
pleased peculiarly to manifest upon some public occasions, 
as a token of his favor and acceptance. On the other hand, 
therefore, for God " to hide his face," must imply his with- 
holding the tokens of his favor, and must be esteemed a 
mark of his displeasure. Thus Isaiah uses it, " Your in- 
iquities have separated between you and your God, and your 
sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." 
Isaiah, lix. 2. And again, " Thou hast hid thy face from 
us," as not regarding the calamities we suffer, " and hast 
consumed us because of our iniquities." Isaiah, lxiv. 7. So 
likewise for God " to hide his face from our sins," (Psalm 
li. 9.) signifies to overlook them, and to take no further no- 
tice of them. The same idea is, at other times, expressed . 
by " God's hiding his eyes," Isaiah, i. 15.) from persons of 
a character disagreeable to him, when they come to address 
him with their petitions, not vouchsafing, as it were, to look 
toward them. This is plainly the scriptural sense of the 
word ; and agreeably to this, it is generally used by Christ- 
ians in our day, and every thing which seems a token of di- 
vine displeasure toward them is expressed by it. 

3. It is further to be observed here, that the things which 
they judge to be manifestations of divine favor toward them, 
or complacency in them, are not only, nor chiefly of a tem- 
poral nature, or such as merely relate to the blessings of this 
animal and perishing life. David, though the promises of 
the law had a continual reference to such, yet was taught to 
look further, and describes them as preferable to, and there- 
fore plainly distinct from, " the blessings of the corn-floor 
or the wine -press." Psalm iv. 7. And if you whom I am 
now addressing do not know them to be so, it is plain you 
are quite ignorant of the subject we are inquiring into, and 
indeed have yet to learn the first lessons of true religion. 
All that David says, of " beholding the beauty of the Lord," 
(Psalm xxvii. 4.) or being " satisfied as with marrow and 
fatness, when he remembered him upon his bed," (Psalm 
lxiii. 5, 6.) as well as " with the goodness of his house, 

18 



202 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

even of his holy temple," (Psalm lxv. 4.) is to be taken in 
the same sense, and can need very little explication to the 
truly experienced soul. But those who have known the light 
of God's countenance, and the shinings of his face, will, in 
proportion to the degree of that knowledge, be able to form 
some notion of the hiding of his face, or the withdrawing of 
the tokens he has given his people of his presence and favor, 
which sometimes greatly imbitters prosperity ; as, where the 
contrary is found, it sweetens affliction, and often swallows 
up the sense of it. 

4. And give me leave to remind you, my Christian friend, 
(for under that character I now address my reader,) that to 
be thus deprived of the sense of God's love, and of the to- 
kens of his favor, may soon be the case with you, though 
you may now have the pleasure to see the candle of the Lord 
shining upon you, or though it may even seem to be sunshine 
and high noon in your soul. You may lose your lively views 
of the divine perfections and glory, in the contemplation of 
which you now find that inward satisfaction. You may 
think of the divine wisdom and power, of the divine mercy 
and fidelity, as well as of his righteousness and holiness, and 
feel little inward complacency of soul in the view : it may 
be, with respect to any lively impressions, as if it were the 
contemplation merely of a common object. It may seem to 
you, as if you had lost all idea of those important words, 
though the view has sometimes swallowed up your whole 
soul in transports of astonishment, admiration, and love. 
You may lose your delightful sense of the divine favor. It 
may be matter of great and sad doubt with you, whether you 
do indeed belong to God ; and all the work of his blessed 
Spirit may be so veiled and shaded in the soul, that the pe- 
culiar characters by which the hand of that sacred Agent 
might be distinguished, shall be in a great measure lost ; and 
you may be ready to imagine you have only deluded yourself 
in all the former hopes you have entertained. In conse- 
quence of this, those ordinances in which you now rejoice 
may grow very uncomfortable to you, even when you do in- 
deed desire communion with God in them. You may hear 
the most delightful evangelical truths opened, you may hear 
the privileges of God's children most affectionately repre- 
sented, and not be aware that you have any part or lot in 
the matter, and from that very coldness and insensibility 
may be drawing a further argument, that you have nothing 
to do with them. And then "your heart" may " meditate 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 203 

terror," (Isaiah, xxxiii. 18.) and under the distress that 
overwhelms you, your dearest enjoyments may be reflected 
upon as adding to the weight of it, and making more sensi- 
ble, while you consider that you had once such a taste for 
these things, and have now lost it all. So that perhaps it 
may seem to you, that they who never felt any thing at all 
of religious impressions, are happier than you, or at least 
less miserable. You may, perhaps, in these melancholy 
hours, even doubt whether you have ever prayed at all, and 
whether all that you called your enjoyment of God, was not 
some false delight, excited by the great enemy of souls, to 
make you apprehend that your state was good, that so you 
might continue his more secure prey. 

5. Such as this may be your case for a considerable time; 
and ordinances maybe attended in vain, and the presence of 
God may be in vain sought in them. You may pour out 
your soul iu private, and then come to public worship, and 
find little satisfaction in either, but be forced to take up the 
Psalmist's complaint, " My God, I cry in the day-time, but 
thou hearest not ; and in the night season, and am not silent ;" ' 
(Psalm xxii. 2.) or that of Job, " Behold, I go forward, but 
he is not there ; and backward, but I cannot perceive him : 
on the left hand, Avhere he doth work, but I cannot behold 
him : he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see 
him." Job,xxiii. 8, 9. So that all which looked like religion 
in your mind, shall seem as it were to be melted into grief, 
or chilled into fear, or crushed into a deep sense of your own 
anworthiness ; in consequence of which, you shall dare not 
so much as to lift up your eyes before God, and be almost 
ashamed to take your place in a worshipping assembly among 
any that you think his servants. I have known this to be 
the case of some excellent Christians, whose improvements 
in religion have been distinguished, and whom God hath 
honored above many of their brethren in what he hath done 
for them, and by them. Give me leave, therefore, having 
thus described it, to offer you some plain advice with regard 
to it; and let not that be imputed to enthusiastic fancy, 
which proceeds from an intimate and frequent view of facts 
on the one hand, and from a sincere affectionate desire on 
the other, to relieve tire tender, pious heart, in so desolate a 
state. At least I am persuaded the attempt will not be over- 
looked or disapproved by " the great Shepherd of the sheep," 
(Heb. xiii. 20.) who has charged us to " comfort the feeble- 
minded. " 1 Thess. v. 14. 



204 RISE A3D PROGRESS OF 

6. And here I would first advise you most carefully to in- 
quire, whether your present distress does indeed arise from 
causes which are truly spiritual. Or whether it may not 
rather have its foundation in some disorder of the body, or 
in the circumstances of life in which you are providentially 
placed, which may break your spirits and deject your mind. 
The influence of the inferior part of our nature on the no- 
bler, the immortal spirit, while we continue in this embod- 
ied state, is so evident, that no attentive person can, in the 
general, fail to observe it; and yet there are cases, in which 
it seems not to be sufficiently considered ; and perhaps your 
own^may be one of them. The state of the blood is often 
such, as necessarily to suggest gloomy ideas even in dreams, 
and to indispose the soul for taking pleasure in any thing; 
and when it is so, why should it be imagined to proceed 
from any peculiar divine displeasure, if the soul does not find 
its usual delight in religion 1 Or why should God be thought 
to have departed from us, because he suffers natural causes 
to produce natural effects, without opposing by miracle to 
break the connection 1 When this is the case, the help of 
the physician is to be sought, rather than that of the divine ; 
or at least, by all means, together with it ; and medicine, 
diet, exercise, and air, may in a few weeks effect what the 
strongest reasonings, the most pathetic exhortations or con- 
solations, might for many months have attempted in vain. 

7. In other instances, the dejection and feebleness of the 
mind may arise from something uncomfortable in our worldly 
circumstances. These may cloud as well as distract the 
thoughts, and imbitter the "temper, and thus render us in a 
great degree unfit for religious services or pleasures ; and 
when it is so, the remedy is to be sought in submission to 
Divine Providence, in abstracting our affections as far as 
possible from the present world, in a prudent care to ease 
ourselves of the burden so far as we can, by moderating un- 
necesrary expenses, and by diligent application to business, 
in humble dependence on the divine blessing ; in the mean 
time, endeavoring by faith to look up to him, who sometimes 
suffers his children to be brought into such difficulties, that 
he may endear himself more sensibly to them by the method 
he shall take for their relief. 

8. On the principles here laid down, it may perhaps ap- 
pear, on inquiry, that the distress complained of may have a 
foundation very different from what was at first supposed. 
But where the health is sound, and the circumstances easy; 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 205 

when the animal spirits are disposed for gaiety and enter- 
tainment, while all taste for religious pleasure is in a manner 
gone ; when the soul is siezed with a kind of lethargic in- 
sensibility, or what I had almost called a paralytic weak- 
ness, with respect to every religious exercise, even though 
there should not be that deep terrifying distress, or pungent 
amazement, which I before represented as the effect of mel- 
ancholy, nor that anxiety about the accommodations of life, 
which strait circumstances naturally produce ; I would in 
that case vary my advice, and urge you, with all possible 
attention and impartiality, to search into the cause which 
has brought upon you that great evil under which you justly 
mourn. And probably, in the general, the cause is sin : some 
secret sin, which has not been discovered or observed by the 
eye of the world; for enormities that draw on them the ob- 
servation and censure of others, will probably fall under the 
case mentioned in the former chapter, as they must be instan- 
ces of known and deliberate guilt. Now the eye of God 
hath seen these evils which have escaped the notice of your 
fellow-creatures ; and in consequence of this care to conceal 
them from others, while you could not but know they were 
open to him, God has seen himself in a peculiar manner af- 
fronted and injured, I had almost said insulted, by them; 
and hence his righteous displeasure. Oh ! let that never be 
forgotten, which is so plainly said, so commonly known, so 
familiar to almost every religious ear, yet too little felt by 
any of our hearts, "Your iniquities have separated between 
you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, 
that he will not hear." Isaiah, lix. 1, 2. And this is, on 
the whole, a merciful dispensation of God, though it may 
seem severe : regard it not, therefore, merely as your calam- 
ity, but as intended to awaken you, that you may not con- 
tent yourself, even with lying in tears of humiliation before 
the Lord, but, like Joshua, rise and exert yourself vigorous- 
ly, to <( put away from you that accursed thing," whatever 
it be. Let this be your immediate and earnest care, that 
your pride may be humbled, that your watchfulness may be 
maintained, that your affections to the world may be dead- 
ened, and that, on the whole, your fitness for heaven may in 
every respect be increased. These are the designs of your 
heavenly Father, and let it be your great concern to cooper- 
ate with them. 

9. Receive it, therefore, on the whole, as the most impor- 
tant advice that can be given you, immediately to enter on a 



206 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

strict examination of your conscience. Attend to its gentlest 
whispers. If a suspicion arises in your mind, that any thing 
has not been right, trace that suspicion, search into every 
secret folding of your heart ; improve to the purposes of a 
fuller discovery, the advice of your friends, the reproaches of 
your enemies ; recollect for what your heart hath smitten 
you at the table of the Lord, for what it would smite you if 
you were upon a dying bed, and within this hour to enter on 
eternity. When you have made any discovery, note it down; 
and go on in your search, till you can say, these are the re- 
maining corruptions of my heart, these are the sins and fol- 
lies of my life; this have I neglected; this have I done 
amiss. And when the account is as complete as you can 
make it, set yourself in the strength of God to a serious 
reformation, or rather begin the reformation of every thing 
that seems amiss as soon as ever you discover it : " return 
to the Almighty, and thou shalt be built up ; put iniquity far 
from thy tabernacle, and then shalt thou have thy delight in 
the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. Thou 
shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee ; 
thou shalt pay thy vows unto him, and his light shall shine 
upon thy ways." Job, xxii. 23, 26, 27. 

10. In the mean time, be waiting for God with the deep- 
est humility/ and submit yourself to the discipline of your 
heavenly Father, acknowledging his justice, and hoping in 
his mercy ; even when your conscience is least severe in its 
remonstrances, and discovers nothing more than the common 
infirmities of God's people ; yet still bow yourself down be- 
fore him, and own that, so many are the evils of your best 
days, so many the imperfections of your best services, that by 
them you have deserved all, and more than all that you sui- 
fer : deserved, not only that your sun should be clouded, but 
that it should go down, and arise no more, but leave your soul, 
in a state of everlasting darkness. And while the shade con- 
tinues, be not impatient. Fret not yourself in any wise, but 
rather, with a holy calmness and gentleness of soul, " wait 
an the Lord. 55 Psalm xxxvii. 8, 34. Be willing to stay his 
time, willing to bear his frown, in humble hope that he will 
at length " return and have compassion on ycu. 55 Jer. xii. 15. 
He has not utterly forgotten to be gracious, nor resolved that 
" he will be favorable no more. 55 Psalm lxxvii. 7, 9. " For 
the Lord will not cast off forever ; but though he cause grief, 
yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his 
mercies." Lam. iii. 31, 32. It is comparatively but " for a 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 207 

small moment, that he hides his face from you ; " but you may 
humbly hope, that with great mercies he will gather you, and 
that " with everlasting kindness he will have mercy on you." 
Isaiah, liv. 7, 8. These suitable words are not mine, but 
his ; and they wear this, as in the very front of them, " That 
a soul, under the hidings of God's face, may at last be one 
whom he will gather, and to whom he will extend everlast- 
ing favor." 

11. But while the darkness continues, " go on in the way 
of your duty." Continue the use of means and ordinances: 
read and meditate: pray, yes, and sing the praises of God 
too, though it may be with a heavy heart. Follow the " foot- 
steps of his flock;" (Cant. i. 3.) you may perhaps meet the 
Shepherd of souls in doing it. Place yourself at least in his 
way. It is possible you may by this means get a kind look 
from him ; and one look, one turn of thought, which may 
happen in a moment, may, as it were, create a heaven in your 
soul at once. Go to the table of the Lord. If you cannot 
rejoice, go and mourn there. Go and " mourn for that Sa- 
vior, whom," by your sins, " you have pierced:" (Zech. xii. 
10.) go and lament the breaches of that covenant which you 
have there so often confirmed. Christ may perhaps make 
himself known unto you M in the breaking of the bread," 
(Luke, xxiv. 35.) and you may find, to your surprise, that 
he hath been near you, when you imagined he was at the 
greatest distance from you ; near you 3 when you thought you 
were " cast out from his presence." Seek your comfort in 
such enjoyments as these, and not in the vain amusements of 
this world, and in the pleasures of sense. I shall never for- 
get that affectionate expression, which I am well assured 
broke out from an eminently pious heart, then almost ready 
to break under its sorrows of this kind: " Lord, if I may 
not enjoy thee, let me enjoy nothing else ; but go down mourn- 
ing after thee to the grave !" I wondered not to hear, that, 
almost as soon as the sentiment had been breathed out before 
God in prayer, the burden was taken off, and M the joy of 
God's salvation restored." 

12. I shall add but one advice more, and that is, that " you 
renew your application to the blood of Jesus, through whom 
the reconciliation between God and your soul has been ac- 
complished." It is he that is our peace, and by his blood it 
is that " we are made nigh:" (Eph. ii. 13, 14.) it is in him, 
as the beloved of his soul, that God declares he is well pleas- 
ed, (Matt. iii. 17.) and it is in him that " we are made ae- 



208 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

cepted, to the glory of his grace." Eph. i. 6. Go, therefore, 
O Christian, and apply by faith to a crucified Savior: go, 
and apply to him, as to a merciful high priest, " and pour out 
thy complaint before him, and show before him thy trouble," 
Psalm cxlii. 2. Lay open the distress and anguish of thy 
soul to him, who once knew what it was to say, (O astonish- 
ing, that He should ever have said it!)" My God! my God! 
why hast thou forsaken me!" Matt, xxvii. 46. Look up 
for pity and relief to him, who himself suffered, being not 
only tempted, but, with regard to sensible manifestations, de- 
serted, that he might thus know how to pity those that ara 
in such a melancholy case, and be ready, as well as able, 
" to succour them." Heb. ii. 18. He is " Immanuel, God 
with us," (Matt. i. 23.) and it is only in and through him 
that his Father shines forth upon us with the mildest beama 
of mercy and of love. Let it be therefore your immediate 
care to renew your acquaintance with him. Review the rec- 
ords of his life and death ; hear his words ; behold his actions ; 
and when you do so, surely you will feel a secret sweetness 
diffusing itself over your soul. You will be brought into a 
calm, gentle, silent frame, in which faith and love will oper- 
ate powerfully, and God may probably cause " the still small 
voice" of his comforting Spirit to be heard, (1 Kings, xix. 
12.) till your soul burst out into a song of praise, and you 
are " made glad according to the days in which you have 
been afflicted." Psalm xc. 15. In the mean time, such lan- 
guage as the following supplication speaks, may be suitable. 

An humble Supplication for one under the Hidings of 
God's Face. 
" Blessed God! c with thee is the fountain of life* and of 
happiness. Psalm xxxvi. 9. I adore thy name that I have 
ever tasted of thy streams ; that I have ever had the peculiar 
pleasure arising from the light of thy countenance, and the 
shedding abroad of thy love in my soul. But, alas! these 
delightful seasons are now to me no more ; and the remem- 
brance of them engages me to ' pour out my soul within me.' 
Psalm xlii. 4. I would come, as I have formerly done, and 
call thee, with the same endearment, ( my Father and my 
God ;' but, alas! I know not how to do it. Guilt and fear 
nrise, and forbid the delightful language. I seek thee, O 
Lord! but I seek in vain. I would pray, but my lips are 
sealed up. I would read thy word, but all the promises of 
it are veiled from mine eyes. I frequent those ordinances 






RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 209 

which have been formerly most nourishing and comfortable 
to my saul, but, alas ! they are only the shadows of ordinan- 
ces : the substance is gone : the animating spirit is fled, and 
leaves them now at best but the image of what I once knew 
them. 

" But, Lord, hast ( thou cast off forever, and wilt thou be 
favorable no morel' Psalm Ixxvii. 7. Hast thou in awful 
judgmeut determined, that my soul must be left to a perpetual 
winter, the sad emblem of eternal darkness! Indeed, I de- 
serve it should be so. I acknowledge, O Lord ! I deserve to 
be cast away from thy presence with disdain, to be sunk low- 
er than I am, much lower: I deserve to have ' the shadow of 
death upon my eyelids,' (Job, xvi. 16.) and even to be sur- 
rounded with the thick gloom of the infernal prison. But 
hast thou not raised multitudes, who have ( deserved like me 
to be delivered into chains of darkness,' (2 Pet. ii. 4.) to 
the vision of thy glory above, where no cloud can ever inter- 
pose between thee and their rejoicing spirits! ' Have mercy 
upon me, O Lord ! have mercy upon me!' Psalm cxxiii. 3. 
And though my iniquities have now justly ' caused thee to hide 
thy face from me,' (Isa. lix. 2.) yet be thou rather pleased, 
agreeably to the gracious language of thy word, 'to hide 
thy face from my sins, and to blot out all my iniquities. 5 
Psalm li. 9. Cheer my heart with the tokens of thy return- 
ing favor, and ' say unto my soul, I am thy salvation!' Psal. 
xxxv. 3. 

M Remember, O Lord God ! remember that dreadful day 5 
in which Jesus thy dear Son endured what my sins have de- 
served ! Remember that agony, in which he poured out his 
soul before thee, and said, ' My God ! My God ! why hast 
thou forsaken meV Matt, xxvii. 46. Did" he not, O Lord ! 
endure all this, that humble penitents might through him be 
brought near unto thee, and might behold thee with pleasure, 
as their Father and their God! Thus do I desire to come 
unto thee. Blessed Savior, art thou not appointed s to give 
unto them that mourn in Zion, beauty for ashes, the oil of 

i'oy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of 
teaviness!' Isa. lxi. 3. O wash away my tears, anoint 
my head with ' the oil of gladness, and clothe me with the 
garments of salvation.' Isa. lxi. 10. 

" ' O that I knew where I might find thee !' Job, xxiii. 3. 
O that I knew what it is that hath engaged thee to depart 
from me ! I am c searching and trying my ways :' (Lam. iii. 
40.) O that thou wouldst * search me, and know my heart j 



210 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

try me, and know my thoughts :' and if ' there be any wick- 
ed way in me, 5 discover it, and * lead me in the way everlast- 
ing; 5 (Psalm cxxxix. 23, 24.) in that way in which I may 
find rest and peace ( for my soul, 5 (Jer. vi. 16.) and feel the 
discoveries of thy love in Christ! 

({ O God ! 6 who didst command the light to shine out of 
darkness, 5 (2 Cor. iv. 6.) speak but the word, and light shall 
dart into my soul at once ! ' Open thou my lips, and my 
mouth shall show forth thy praise, 5 (Psalm li. 15.) shall burst 
out into a cheerful song, which shall display, before those 
whom my pi esent dejections may have discouraged, the pleas- 
ures and supports of religion ! 

" Yet, Lord, on the whole, I submit to thy will. If it is 
thus that my faith must be exercised, by walking in darkness 
for days, and months, and years to come, how long soever 
they may seem, how long soever they may be, I submit. Still 
will I adore thee as the i God of Israel, 5 and the Savior, 
though i thou art a God that hidest thyself, 5 Isaiah, xlv. 15. 
Still will I * trust in the name of the Lord, and stay myself 
npon my God, 5 (Isa. 1. 10.) * trusting in thee, though thou 
slay me, 5 (Job, xiii. 15.) and s waiting for thee, more than 
they that watch for the morning, yea, more than they that 
watch for the morning. 5 Psalm cxxx. 6. Peradventure ' in 
the evening time it may be light. 5 Zech. xiv. 7. I know thou 
hast sometimes manifested thy compassion to thy dying ser- 
vants, and given them, in the lowest ebb of their natural spir- 
its, a full tide of divine glory; thus turning 'darkness into 
light before them. 5 Isa. xlii. 16. So may it please thee to 
gild c the Valley of the Shadow of Death 5 with the light of 
thy presence, when I am passing through it, and to stretch 
forth l thy rod and thy staff to comfort me, 5 (Psal. xxiii. 4.) 
that my tremblings may cease, and the gloom may echo with 
gongs of praise ! But if it be thy sovereign pleasure, thai 
distress and darkness should still continue to the last motion 
of my pulse, and the last gasp of my breath, O let it cease 
with the parting struggle, and bring me to that light which 
is sown for the righteous, and to that gladness which is re- 
served i for the upright in heart: 5 (Psalrn xcvii. 11.) to the 
unclouded regions of everlasting splendor and joy, where the 
full anointings of thy Spirit shall be poured out on all thy 
people, and thou wilt no more i hide thy face from any of 
them!' Ezek. xxxix. 29. 

" This, Lord, is ' thy salvation for which I am waiting, 5 
(Gea. xlix. 18.) and whilst I feel the desires of my soul 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 211 

drawn out after it, I will never despair of obtaining it. Con- 
tinue and increase those desires, and at length satisfy and ex- 
ceed them all, 4 through the riches of thy grace in Christ Je- 
sus !' Amen." 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE CHRISTIAN STRUGGLING UNDER GREAT AND 
HEAVY AFFLICTIONS. 

1. Here it is advised — that afflictions should be expected.— 9. 
That the righteous hand of God should be acknowledged in 
them when they come. — 3. That they should be borne with 
patience. — 4. That the divine conduct in them should be cor- 
dially approved. — 5. That thankfulness should be maintained 
in the midst of trials. — 6. That the design of afflictions should 
be diligently inquired into, and all proper assistance taken in 
discovering it. — 7. That, when it is discovered, it should hum- 
bly be complied with and answered. A prayer suited to such 
a case. 

1. Since " man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly 
upward," (Job, v. 7.) and Adam has entailed on all his race 
the sad inheritance of calamity in their way to death, it will 
certainly be prudent and necessary, that we should all expect 
to meet with trials and afflictions ; and that you, reader, 
whoever you are, should be endeavoring to gird on your ar- 
mor, and put yourself in a posture to encounter those trials 
which will fall to your lot as a man and a Christian. Pre- 
pare yourself to receive your afflictions, and to endure them, 
in a manner agreeable to both these characters. In this view, 
when you see others under the burden, consider how possible 
it is that you may be called out to the very same difficulties, 
or to others equal to them. Put your soul as in the place of 
theirs. Think how you could endure the load under which 
they lie; and endeavor at once to comfort them, and tb 
strengthen your own heart, or rather pray that God would 
do it. And observing how liable mortal life is to such sor- 
rows, moderate your expectations from it ; raise your thoughts 
above it ; and form your schemes of happiness only for that 
world, where they cannot be disappointed ; in the mean time, 
blessing God that your prosperity is lengthened out thus far, 
and ascribing it to his special providence that you continue 
so long unwounded, when so many showers of arrows are fly- 
ing around you, and so many are falling by them, on the right 
hand and on the left, 



212 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

2. When at length your turn comes, as it certainly will, 
from the first hour in which an affliction seizes you, realize 
to yourself the hand of God in it, and lose not the view of 
him in any second cause, which may have proved the imme- 
diate occasion. Let it be your first care, to " humble your- 
self under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you 
in due time." 1 Pet. v. 6. Own that " he is just in all that 
is brought upon you," (Neh. ix. 33.) and that in all these 
things " he punishes you less than your iniquities deserve." 
Ezra, ix. 13. Compose yourself to bear his hand with pa- 
tience, to glorify his name by a submission to his will, and to 
fall in with the gracious design of this visitation, as well aa 
to wait the issue of it quietly, whatsoever the event may be. 

3. Now, that " patience may have its perfect work," 
(James, i. 4.) reflect frequently, and deeply, upon your own 
unworthiness and sinfulness. Consider how often every mercy 
has been forfeited, and every judgment deserved. And con- 
sider, too, how long the patience of God hath borne with you, 
and how wonderfully it is still exerted toward you ; and in- 
deed, not only his patience, but his bounty too. Afflicted aa 
you are, (for I speak to you now as actually under the pres- 
sure), look around and survey your remaining mercies, and 
be gratefully sensible of them. Make the supposition of their 
being removed : what if God should stretch out his hand 
against you, and add poverty to pain, or pain to poverty, or 
the loss of friends to both, or the death of surviving friends 
to that of those whom you are now mourning over ; would 
not the wound be more greviousl Adore his goodness that 
this is not the case ; and take heed lest your unthankfulness 
should provoke him to multiply your sorrows. Consider also 
the need you have of discipline, how wholesome it may prove 
to your soul, and what merciful designs our Heavenly Father 
has in all the corrections he senda upon his children. 

4. Nay, I will add, that, in consequence of all these con- 
siderations, it may be well expected, not only that you should 
submit to your afflictions, as what you cannot avoid, but that 
you should sweetly acquiesce in them, and approve them ; 
that you should not only justify, but glorify God in sending 
them ; that you should glorify him with your heart and witn 
your lips too. Think not praises unsuitable on such an occa- 
sion ; noi that praise alone to be suitable, which takes its rise 
from remaining comforts ; but know that it is your duty, not 
only to be thankful in your afflictions, but to be thankful do 
account of them. 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 213 

5. God himself has said, " In every thing give thanks," 
(1 Thess. v. 18.) and he has taughthis servants to say, " Yea, 
also we glory in tribulation." Rom. v. 3. And most cer- 
tain it is, that to true believers afflictions are tokens of divine 
mercy; for "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and 
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth," with peculiar and 
distinguishing endearment. Heb. xii. 6. View your present 
afflictions in this light, as chastisements of love ; and then 
let your own heart say, whether love does not demand praise. 
Think with yourself, " It is thus that God is making me com- 
formable to his own Son ; it is thus that he is training me up 
for complete glory. Thus he kills my corruptions ; thus he 
strengthens my graces ; thus he is wisely contriving to bring 
me nearer to himself, and to ripen me for the honors of his 
heavenly kingdom. It is, if need be, that e I am in heavi- 
ness, 5 (1 Pet. i. 6.) and he surely knows what that need is 
better than I can pretend to teach him, and knows what pe- 
culiar propriety there is in this affliction to answer my pres- 
ent necessity, and to do me that peculiar good which he is 
graciously intending me by it. This tribulation shall ' work 
patience, and patience experience, and experience' a more 
assured 4 hope,' even a hope which f shall not make ashamed,' 
while ( the love of God is shed abroad in my heart,' (Rom. v. 
3 — 5.) and shines through my affliction, like the sun through 
a gentle descending cloud, darting in light upon the shade, 
and mingling fruitfulness with weeping." 

6. Let it be then your earnest care, while you thus look on 
your affliction, whatever it maybe, as coming from the hand 
of God, to improve it to the purposes for which it was sent. 
And that you may so improve it, let it be your first concern 
to know what those purposes are. Summon up all the at- 
tention of your soul to bear the rod, and him " who hath 
appointed it," (Mic. vi. 9.) and pray earnestly that you may 
understand its voice. Examine your life, your words, and 
your heart ; pray that God would so guide your inquiries, that 
you may " return unto the Lord that smiteth you." Isa. ix. 
13. To assist you in this, call in the help of pious friends, and 
particularly of your minister: entreat not only their prayers, 
but their advice too, as to the probable design of Providence ; 
and encourage them freely to tell you any thing which occurs 
to their minds upon this head. And if such an occasion 
should lead them to touch upon some of the imperfections of 
your character and conduct, look upon it as a great token of 
their friendship, and take it, not only patiently, but thank- 



214 RISE AND PROGRESS OP. 

fully. It does but ill become a Christian, at any time, to 
resent reproofs and admonitions ; and least of all does it be- 
come him, when the rebukes of his Heavenly Father are upon 
him. He ought rather to seek admonitions at such a time 
as this, and voluntarily offer his wounds to be searched by a 
faithful and skilful hand. 

7. And when, by one means or another, you have got a ray 
of light to direct you in the meaning and language of such 
dispensations, take heed that you do not, in any degree, 
" harden yourself against God, and walk contrary to him. 5 ' 
Lev. xxvi. 27. Obstinate reluctance to the apprehended de- 
sign of any providential stroke, is inexpressibly provoking 
to him. Set yourself, therefore, to an immediate reforma- 
tion of whatever you discover amiss, and labor to learn the 
general lessons of greater submission to God's will, of a more 
calm indifference to the world, and of a closer attachment to 
divine converse, and to the views of an approaching invisi- 
ble state. And whatever particular proportion or correspon- 
dence you may observe hetween this or that circumstance in 
your affliction and your former transgressions, be especially 
careful to act according to that more peculiar and express 
voice of the rod. Then you may perhaps have speedy and 
remarkable reasons to say, that " it hath been good for yoa 
that you have been afflicted," (Psalm cxix. 71.) and, with a 
multitude of others, may learn to number the times of your 
sharpest trials among the sweetest and the most exalted mo- 
ments of your life. For this purpose, let prayer be your fre- 
quent employment: and let such sentiments as these, if not 
in the very same terms, be often and affectionately poured 
out before God. 

An humble Address to God under the Pressure of heavy 
Affliction. 

ei O thou Supreme, yet all-righteous and gracious Governor 
of the whole universe ! mean and inconsiderable as this little 
province of thy spacious empire may appear, thou dost not 
disregard the earth and its inhabitants, but attendest to its 
concerns with the most condescending and gracious regard. 
c Thou reignest, and I rejoice in it ; ' as it is indeed ( matter 
of universal joy.' P'salm xcvii. 1. I believe thy universal 
providence and" care ; and I firmly believe thy wise, holy, and 
kind interposition in every thing which relates to me, and to 
the circumstances of my abode in this world. I would look 
through all inferior causes unto thee, whose eyes are upon all 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 2J5 

thy creatures ; to thee, c who formest light and createet dark- 
ness ;' who * makest peace and createstevil;' (Isa. xlv. 7.) 
to thee, Lord, who at thy pleasure canst exchange the one for 
the other, canst turn the brightest noon into midnight, and 
the darkest midnight into noon ! 

" O thou wise and merciful Governor of the world! I have 
often said, « Thy will be done;' and now, thy will is painful 
to me. But shall I upon that account unsay what I have so 
often said"? * God forbid !' I come rather to lay myself down 
at thy feet, and to declare my full and free submission to all 
thy sacred pleasure. O Lord! thou art just and righteous in 
all ! I acknowledge, in thy venerable and awful presence, 
that, f I have deserved this,' and ten thousand times more. 
Ezra, ix. 13. I acknowledge, that ' it is of thy mercy that 
I am not utterly consumed,' (Lam. iii. 22.) and that any, 
the least degree, of comfort yet remains. O Lord ! I most 
readily confess, that the sins of one day of my life have mer- 
ited all these chastisements ; and that every day of my life 
has been more or less sinful. Smite, therefore, O thou 
Righteous Judge ! and I will still adore thee, that, instead 
of the scourge, thou hast not given a commission to the sword, 
to do all the dreadful work of justice, and to pour out my 
blood in thy presence. 

" But shall I speak unto thee only as my Judge'? O Lord! 
thou hast taught me a tenderer name : thou condescendest to 
call thyself my Father, and to speak of correction as the ef- 
fect of thy love. O welcome, welcome, those afflictions, 
which are the tokens of thy paternal affection, the marks of 
my adoption into thy family! Thou knowest what discipline 
I need. Thou seest, O Lord! that bundle of folly which 
there is in the heart of thy poor, froward, and thoughtless 
child, and knowest what rods and what strokes are needful 
to drive it away. I would therefore ( be in humble subjec- 
tion to the Father of spirits,' who { chasteneth me for my 
profit;' would s be in subjection to him and live,' Heb. xii. 
9, 10. I would bear thy strokes, not merely because 1 can- 
not resist them, but because I love and trust in thee. I would 
sweetly acquiesce and rest in thy will, as well as stoop to it ; 
and would say, l Good is the word of the Lord ; ' (2 Kings, 
xx. 19.) and I desire that not only my lips, but my soul may 
acquiesce. Yea, Lord, I would praise thee, that thou wilt 
show so much regard to me as to apply such remedies as these 
to the diseases of my mind, and art thus kindly careful to 
train me up for glory. I have no objection against being af- 



216 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

flicted, against being afflicted in this particular way. * The 
cup which ray Father puts into my hand, shall I not 'drink it V 
John, xviii. 11. By thine assistance and support I will. 
Only be pleased, O Lord ! to stand by me, and sometimes to 
grant me a favorable look in the midst of my sufferings ; 
Support my soul, I beseech thee, by thy consolations mingled 
with my tribulations, and I shall glory in those tribulations 
that are thus allayed ! It has been the experience of many, 
who have reflected on afflicted days with pleasure, and have 
acknowledged that their comforts have swallowed up their 
sorrows. And after all that thou hast done, ( are thy mercies 
restraiuedl' Isa. lxiii. 15. 6 Is thy hand waxed short]' Niun. 
xi. 25. Or canst thou not do the same for me'? 

" If my heart be less tender, less sensible, thou canst cure 
that disorder, and canst make this affliction the means of 
curing it. Thus let it be; and at length, in thine own due 
time, and in the way which thou shalt choose, work out de- 
liverance for me, i and show r me thy marvellous loving-kind- 
ness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them that put their 
trust in theje !' Psal. xvii. 7. For I well know, that, how 
dark soever this night of affliction may seem, if thou savest, 
' Let there be light,' there shall be light. But I would urge 
nothing before the time thy wisdom and goodness shall ap- 

Eoint. I am much more concerned that my afflictions may 
e sanctified, than that they may be removed. Number me, 
O God ! among the happy persons, whom, whilst thouchast- 
enest, thou i teachest out of thy law !' Psal. xciv. 12. Show 
me, I beseech thee, ' wherefore thou contendest with me,' 
(Job, x. 2.) and purify me by the fire, which is so painful 
to me while I am passing through it ! Dost thou not chasten 
thy children for this very end. « that they may be partakers 
of thy holiness]' Heb. xii. 10. Thou knowest, O God ! it 
is this my soul is breathing after. I am partaker of thy 
bounty every day and moment of my life: I am partaker of 
thy Gospel, and I hope, in some measure too, a partaker of 
the grace of it operating on my heart. O may it operate 
more and more, that I may largely partake of thine holiness 
too ; that I may come nearer and nearer in the temper of my 
mind to thee, O blessed God ! the supreme model of perfec- 
tion ! Let my soul be, as it were, melted, through with the 
intensest heat of the furnace, if I may but thereby be made 
fit for being delivered into the mould of thy Gospel, and bear- 
ing thy bright and amiable image ! 

" O Lord, ' my soul longeth for thee ; it crieth out for the 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 217 

living God !' Psalm lxxxiv. 2. In thy presence, and under 
the support of thy love, I can bear any thing ; and am willing 
to bear it, if I may grow more lovely in thine eyes, and more 
meet for thy kingdom, The days of my affliction will have 
an end ; the hour will at length come, when thou ' wilt wipe 
away all my tears,' (Rev. xxi. 4.) « Though it tarry, 5 I would 
4 wait for it.' Heb. ii. 3. My foolish heart, in the midst of 
all its trials, is ready to grow fond of this earth, disappoint- 
ing and grevious as it is ; and graciously, O God, dost thou 
deal with me, in breaking those bonds that would tie me fast- 
er to it. O let my soul be girding itself up, and as it were, 
stretching its wings in expectation of that blessed hour, when 
it shall drop all its sorrows and incumbrances at once, and 
soar away, to expatiate with infinite delight in the regions 
of liberty, peace, and joy. Amen." 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE CHRISTIAN ASSISTED IN EXAMINING INTO HIS 
GROWTH IN GRACE. 

1. The examination important. — 2. False marks of growth in 
grace to be avoided. — 3. True marks proposed ; such as— in- 
creasing love to God. — 4. Benevolence to men. — 5. Candor of 
disposition. — 6. Meekness under injuries. — 7. Serenity amidst 
the uncertainties of life. — 8. Humility, — 9. especially as ex- 
pressed in evangelical exercises of mind toward Christ and the 
Holy Spirit. — 10. Zeal for the divine honor. — 11. Habitual and 
cheerful willingness to exchange worlds whenever God shall 
appoint. — 12. Conclusion. The Christian breathing after 
growth in grace. 

1. If by divine grace you have " been born again, not of 
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible," (1 Pet. i. 2, 3.) even 
" by that word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever," 
not only in the world and the church, but in particular souls 
in which it is sown ; you will, " as new-born babes, desire 
the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby." 
1 Pet. ii. 2. And though, in the most advanced state of re- 
ligion on earth, we are but infants in comparison of what we 
hope to be, when, in the heavenly world, we arrive " unto a 
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness 
of Christ," (Eph. iv. 13.) yet, as we have some exercises of 
a sanctified reason, we shall be solicitous that we may be 
growing and thriving. And you, my reader, u if so be vou 

19 




218 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

have tasted that the Lord ig gracious," (1 Pet. ii. 3.) will, I 
doubt not, feel this solicitude. I would therefore endeavor 
to assist you in making the inquiry, whether religion be on 
the advauce in your soul. And here I shall warn you against 
some false marks of growth, and then shall endeavor to lay 
down others on which you may depend as more solid. In 
this view I would observe, that you are not to measure your 
growth in grace, only or chiefly by your advances in knowl- 
edge, or in zeal, or any other passionate impression of the 
mind, no, nor by the fervor of devotion alone ; but by the 
habitual determination of the will for God, and by your pre- 
vailing disposition to obey his commands, submit to his dis- 
posal, and promote the highest welfare of his cause in the 
earth. 

2. It must be allowed, that knowledge and affection in 
religion are indeed desirable. Without some degree of the 
former, religion cannot be rational ; and it is very reasona- 
ble to believe, that without some degree of the latter it can- 
not be sincere, in creatures whose natures are constituted 
like ours. Yet there may be a great deal of speculative 
knowledge, and a great deal of rapturous affection, where 
there is no true religion at all ; and still more, where religion 
exists, though there be no advanced state of it. The exer- 
cise of our rational faculties, upon the evidences of divine 
revelation, and upon the declaration of it as contained in 
scripture, may furnish a very wicked man with a well-digested 
body of orthodox divinity in his head, when not one single 
doctrine of it has ever reached his heart. An eloquent de- 
scription of the sufferings of Christ, of the solemnities of 
judgment, of the joys of the blessed, and the miseries of the 
damned, might move the breast even of a man who did not 
firmly believe them ; as we often find ourselves strongly moved 
by well-wrought narrations or discourses, which at the same 
time we know to have their foundation in fiction. Natural 
constitution, or such accidental causes as are (some of them) 
tuo low to be here mentioned, may supply the eyes with a 
flood of tears, which may discharge itself plenteously upon 
almost any occasion that shall first arise. And a proud im- 
patience of contradiction, directly opposite as it is to the 
gentle spirit of Christianity, may make a man's blood boil 
when he hears the notions he has entertained, and especially 
those which he has openly and vigorously espoused, disputed 
and opposed. This may possibly lead him, in terms of strong 
indignation, to pour out his zeal and his rage before God, in 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL, 219 

a fond conceit, that, as the God of truth, he is the pattern of 
those favorite doctrines, by whose fair appearances perhaps 
he himself is misled. And if these speculative refinements, 
or these affectionate sallies of the mind, be consistent with 
a total absence of true religion, they are much more appa- 
rently consistent with a very low state of it, I would de- 
sire to lead you, my friend, into sublimer notions and juster 
marks, and refer you to other practical writers, and, above 
all, to the book of God, to prove how material they are. I 
would therefore entreat you to bring your own heart to an- 
swer, as in the presence of God, such inquiries as these : 

3. Do you find " divine love, on the whole, advancing in 
your soul 1" Do you feel yourself more and more sensible of 
the presence of God 1 and does that sense grow more de- 
lightful to you than it formerly was 1 Can you, even when 
your natural spirits are weak and low, and you are not in 
any frame for the ardors and ecstacies of devotion, never- 
theless find a pleasing rest, a calm repose of heart, in the 
thought that God is near you, and that he sees the secret 
sentiments of your soul, while you are, as it were, laboring 
up the hill, and casting a longing eye toward him, though 
you cannot say you enjoy any sensible communications from 
him 1 Is it agreeable to you to open your heart to his in- 
spection and regard, to present it to him laid bare of every 
disguise, and to say with David, " Thou, Lord, knowest thy 
servant 1" 2 Sam. vii. 20. Do you find a growing esteem 
and approbation of that sacred law of God, which is the 
transcript of his moral perfections 1 Do you inwardly "es- 
teem all his precepts concerning all things to be right V 
Psalm cxix. 128. Do you discern, not only the necessity, 
but the reasonableness, the beauty, the pleasure of obedience ; 
and feel a growing scorn and contempt of those things which 
may be offered as the price of your innocence, and would 
tempt you to sacrifice or hazard your interest in the divine 
favor and friendship 1 Do you find an ingenuous desire to 
please God, not only because he is so powerful, and has so 
many good and so many evil things entirely at his command, 
but from a veneration of his most amiable nature and char- 
acter 1 and do you find your heart habitually reconciled to a 
most humble subjection, both to his commanding and to his 
disposing willl Do you perceive, that your own will is 
now more ready and disposed, in every circumstance, to 
bear the yoke, and to submit to the divine determination, 
whatever he appoints to be borne or forborne 1 Can you " in. 



220 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



patience possess your soul ?" Luke, xxi. 19. Can you main- 
tain a more steady calmness and serenity, when God is stri- 
king at your dearest enjoyments in this world, and acting 
most directly contrary to your present interests, to your nat- 
ural passions and desires 1 If you can, it is a most certain 
and noble sign that grace is growing up in you to a very vig- 
orous state. 

4. Examine also, " what affections you find in your heart 
toward those who are about you, and toward the rest of man- 
kind in general." Do you find your heart overflow with un- 
dissembled and unrestrained benevolence 1 Are you more 
sensible than you once were, of those most endearing bonds 
which unite all men, and especially all Christians, into one 
community; which make them brethren and fellow-citizens'? 
Do all the unfriendly passions die and wither in your soul, 
while the kind, social affections grow and strengthen 1 And 
though self-love was never the reigning passion since you be- 
came a true Christian ; yet, as some remainders of it are still 
too ready to work inwardly, and to show themselves, espe- 
cially as sudden occasions arise, do you perceive that you are 
getting ground of them! Do you think of yourself only as one 
of a great number, whose particular interests and concerns 
are of little importance when compared with those of the 
community, and ought by all means, on all occasions, to be 
sacrificed to them! 

5. Reflect especially iC on the temper of your mind toward 
those, whom an unsanctified heart might be ready to imagine 
it had some just excuse for excepting out of the list of those 
it loves, and for whom you are ready to feel some secret 
alienation or aversion." How does your mind stand affect- 
ed towards those who differ from you in their religious sen- 
timents and practices'? I do not say, that Christian charity 
will require you to think every error harmless. It argues no 
want of love to a friend, in some cases, to fear lest his dis- 
order should prove more fatal than he seems to imagine : 
nay, sometimes the very tenderness of friendship may increase 
that apprehension. But to hate persons because we think 
they are mistaken, and to aggravate every difference in judg- 
ment or practice into a fatal and damnable error, that de- 
stroys all Christian communion and love, is a symptom gen- 
erally much worse than the evil it condemns. Do you love 
the image of Christ in a person, who thinks himself obliged 
in conscience to profess and worship in a manner different 
from yourself? Nay, further, can you love and honor that 






RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 221 

which is truly amiable and excellent in those in whom much 
is defective ; in whom there is a mixture of bigotry and nar- 
rowness of spirit, which may lead them perhaps to slight, or 
even to censure you! Can you love them, as the disciples 
and servants of Christ, who through a mistaken zeal may be 
ready to "cast out your name as evil," (Luke, vi. 22.) and 
to warn others against you as a dangerous person ! This is 
none of the least triumphs of charity, nor any despicable ev- 
idence of an advance in religion. 

6. And, on this head, reflect further, " How can you bear 
injuries'?" There is a certain hardness of soul in this res- 
pect, which argues a confirmed state in piety and virtue. 
Does every thing of this kind hurry and ruffle you, so as to 
put you on contrivances how you may recompense, or, at 
least, how you may disgrace and expose him who has done 
you the wrong! Or can you stand the shock calmly, and 
easily divert your mind to other objects, only (when you rec- 
ollect these things) pitying and praying for those who with 
the worst tempers and views are assaulting you! This is 
a Christ-like temper, indeed, and he will own it as such ; 
will own you as one of his soldiers, and as one of hia 
heroes ; especially if it rises so far, as, instead of being 
" overcome of evil, to overcome evil with good." Rom. xii. 
21. Watch over your spirit and over your tongue, when in- 
juries are offered, and see whether you be ready to meditate 
upon them, to aggravate them in your own view, to complain 
of them to others, and to lay on all the load of blame that 
you in justice can ; or, whether you be ready to put the kind- 
est construction upon the offence, to excuse it as far as rea- 
son will allow, and (where, after all, it will wear a black 
and odious aspect) to forgive it, heartily to forgive it, and 
that even before any submission is made, or pardon asked ; 
and in token of the sincerity of that forgiveness, to be con- 
triving what can be done, by some benefit or other toward 
the injurious person, to teach him a better temper. 

7. Examine further, " with regard to other evils and ca- 
lamities of life, and even with regard to its uncertainties^ 
how you can bear them." Do you find your soul is in thi3 
respect gathering strength! Have you fewer foreboding fears 
and disquieting alarms than you once had, as to what may 
happen in life! Can you trust the wisdom and goodness of 
God, to order your affairs for you, with more complacency 
and cheerfulness than formerly! Do you find yourself able 
to unite your thoughts more in surveying present circumstan- 



222 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



though 
vou tol 



cesj that you may collect immediate duty from them, though 
you know not what God will next appoint or call you tol 
And when you feel the smart of affliction, do you make a 
less matter of it! Can you transfer your heart more easily 
to heavenly and divine objects, without an anxious solicitude, 
whether this or that burden be removed, so it may but be 
sanctified to promote your communion with God and your 
ripeness for glory? 

8. Examine also, "whether you advance in humility." 
This is a silent, but most excellent grace ; and they who are 
most eminent in it, are dearest to God, and most fit for the 
communications of his presence to them. Do you then feel 
your mind more emptied of proud and haughty imaginations, 
not prone so much to look back upon past services which it 
has performed, as forward to those which are yet before you, 
and inward upon the remaining imperfections of your heart! 
Do you more tenderly observe your daily failures and mis- 
carriages, and find yourself disposed to mourn over those 
things before the Lord, that once passed with you as slight 
matters, though, when you come to survey them as in the 
presence of God, you find they were not wholly involuntary 
or free from guilt 1 Do you feel in your breast a deeper ap- 
prehension of the infinite majesty of the blessed God, and of 
the glory of his natural and moral perfections, so aaj in con- 
gequeuce of these views, to perceive yourself, as it were, an- 
nihilated in his presence, and to shrink into " less than noth- 
ing, and vanity!" Isaiah, xl. 17. If this be your temper, 
God will look upon you with peculiar favor, and will visit 
you more and more with the distinguishing blessings of his 
grace. 

9. But there is another great branch and effect of Christ- 
ian humility, which it would be an unpardonable negligence 
to omit, "Let me therefore further inquire, are you more 
frequently renewing your application, your sincere, steady, 
determined application, to the righteousness and blood of 
Christ, as being sensible how unworthy you are to appear 
before God otherwise than in him? And do the remaining 
corruptions of your heart humble you before him, though the 
disorders of your life are in a great measure cured? Arc 
you more earnest to obtain the quickening influences of the * 
Holy Spirit? And have you such a sense of your own weak- 
ness, as to engage you to depend, in all the duties you per- 
form, upon the communications of his grace " to help your 
infirmities!" Rom, viii, 26. Can you, at the close of your 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 223 

most religious, exemplary, and useful days, blush before God 
for the deficiencies of them, while others perhaps may be 
ready to admire and extol your conduct'? And while you 
give the glory of all that has been right to him, from whom 
the strength and grace has been derived, are you coming to 
the blood of sprinkling, to free you from the guilt which 
mingles itself even with the best of your services'? Do you 
learn to receive the bounties of Providence, not only with 
thankfulness as coming from God, but with a mixture of 
shame and confusion too, under a consciousness that you do 
not deserve them, and are continually ferfeiting them! And 
do you justify Providence in your afflictions and disappoint- 
ments, even while many are flourishing around you full in 
the bloom of prosperity, whose offences have been more visi- 
ble at least, and more notorious than yours! 

10. Do you also advance " in the zeal and activity" for 
the service of God, and the happiness of mankind] Does 
your love show itself solid and sincere, by a continual flow of 
good works from it! Can you view the sorrows of others 
with tender compassion, and with projects and contrivances 
what you may do to relieve them ! Do you feel in your 
breast, that you are more frequently "devising liberal things," 
(Isa. xxxii. 8.) and ready to waive your own advantage or 
pleasure that you may accomplish them ! Do you find your 
imagination teeming, as it were, with conceptions and schemes 
for the advancement of the cause and interest of Christ in 
the world, for the propagation of his Gospel, and for the 
happiness of your fellow-creatures! And do you not only 
pray, but act for it ; act in such a manner as to show that 
you pray in earnest, and feel a readiness to do what little 
you can in this cause, even though others, who might, if they 
pleased, very conveniently do a vast deal more, will do noth- 
ing! 

11. And, not to enlarge upon this copious head, reflect 
once more, v how your affections stand with regard to this 
world and another!" Are you more deeply and practically 
convinced of the vanity of these " things which are seen, and 
are temporal!" 2 Cor. iv. 18. Do you perceive your ex- 
pectations from them, and your attachments to them, to di- 
minish ! You are Avilling to stay in th^s world as long as 
your Father pleases ; and it is right and well ; but do you 
find your bonds so loosened to it, that you are willing, 
heartily willing, to leave it at the shortest warning; so that 
if God should see fit to summon you away on a sudden, 



224 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

though it should be in the midst of your enjoyments, pursuits, 
expectations, and hopes, you would cordially consent to 
that remove, without saying, "Lord, let me stay a little 
while longer, to enjoy this or that agreeable entertainment, 
to finish this or that scheme V Can you think, with an ha- 
bitual calmness and hearty approbation, if such be the divine 
pleasure, of waking no more when you lie down on your 
bed, of returning home no more when you go out of the 
house 1 And yet, on the other hand, how great soever the 
burdens of life are, do you find a willingness to bear them, 
in submission to the will of your heavenly Father, though it 
should be to many future years, and though they should be 
years of far greater affliction than you have ever yet seen 1 
Can you say calmly and steadily, if not with such overflow- 
ings of tender affection as you could desire, " Behold, * thy 
servant,' thy child is c in thine hand, do with me as seemeth 
good in thy sight !' 2 Sam. xv. 26. My will is melted into 
thine ; to be lifted up or laid down, to be carried out or 
brought in, to be here or there, in this or that circumstance*, 
just as thou pleasest, and as shall best suit with thy great 
extensive plan, which it is impossible that I, or all the angels 
in heaven, should mend." 

12. These, if I understand matters aright, are some of the 
most substantial evidences of growth and establishment in 
religion. Search after them : bless God for them, so far as 
you discover them in yourself, and study to advance in them 
iiaily, under the influences of divine grace; to which I 
heartily recommend you, and to which I entreat you fre- 
quently to recommend yourself. 

The Christian breathing earnestly after Growth in 
Grace. 

" O thou ever -blessed Fountain of natural and spiritual 
life. I thank thee that I live, and know the exercises and 
pleasures of a religious life. I bless thee that thou hast in- 
fused into me thine own vital breath, though I was once 
s dead in trespasses and sins,' (Eph. ii. 1.) so that I am be- 
come, in a sense peculiar to thine own children, ' a living 
soul.' Gen. ii. 7. But it is my earnest desire, that I may 
not only live, but grow, c grow in grace, and in the knowl- 
edge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,' (2 Pet. iii. 18.) 
upon an acquaintance with whom my progress in it so evi- 
dently depends. In this view, I humbly entreat thee, that 
thou wilt form my mind to right notions in religion, that I 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL* 225 

may not judge of grace by any wrong conceptions of it, nor 
measure my advances in it by those things which are merely 
the effects of nature, and possibly its corrupt effects ! 

" May I be seeking after an increase of divine love to thee> 
my God and Father in Christ, of unreserved resignation to 
thy wise and holy will, and of extensive benevolence to my 
fellow-creatures ! May I grow in patience and fortitude of 
soul, in humility and zeal, in spirituality and a heavenly dis- 
position of mind, and in a concern, e that, whether present 
or absent, I may be accepted of the Lord, 5 (2 Cor. v. 9.) 
that whether I live or die, it may be for thy glory. In a 
word, as thou knowest I hunger and thirst after righteousness- 
make me whatever thou wouldst delight to see me! Draw 
on my soul, by the gentle influences of thy gracious Spirit, 
every trace, and every feature, which thine eye, O Heavenly 
Father, may survey with pleasure, and which thou mayest 
acknowledge as thine own image* 

" I am sensible, O Lord, I have not as yet attained, yea, 
my soul is utterly confounded to think how far I am from be- 1 
ing already perfect; but this one thing (after the great ex- 
ample of thine apostle) I would endeavor to do : i forgetting 
the things which are behind, I would press forward to those 
which are before;' Phil. iii. 12, 13; O that thou wouldst 
feed my soul by thy word and Spirit! Having been, as I 
humbly hope and trust, regenerated by it, * being born again, 
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, even by thv 
wordj which liveth and abideth forever ; ' (1 Pet. i. 23.) < as 
a new-born babe, I desire the sincere milk of the word, that 
I may grow thereby.' 1 Pet. ii. 2. And may 'my profiting 
appear unto all men,' (1 Tim. iv. 15.) till at length ' I come 
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the 
fulness of Christ^' (Eph. iv. 13.) and after having enjoyed 
the pleasure of those that flourish eminently in thy courts "be - 
low, be fixed in the paradise above! I ask and hope it 
through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; e to him be glorv* 
both now and forever!' 2 Pet. iii. 18. Amen." 



20 



226 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

CHAPTER. XXVII. 

THE ADVANCED CHRISTIAN REMINDED OF THE MER- 
CIES OF GOD, AND EXHORTED TO THE EXERCISE OF 
HABITUAL LOVE TO HIM, AND JOY IN HIM. 

1. A holy joy in God, our privilege as well as our duty.— 2. The 
Christian invited to the exercise of it. — 3. By the considera- 
tion of temporal mercies. — 4. And of spiritual favors. — 5. By 
the views of eternal happiness. — 6. And of the mercies of 
God to others, the living and the dead. — 7. The chapter closes 
with an exhortation to this heavenly exercise. And with an 
example of the genuine workings of this grateful joy in God. 

1. I would now suppose my reader to find, on an exam- 
ination of his spiritual state, that he is growing in grace. 
And if you desire that this growth may at once be acknowl- 
edged and promoted, let me call your soul " to that more af- 
fectionate exercise of love to God and joy in him," which 
suits, and strengthens, and exalts the character of the advanc- 
ed Christian ; and which I beseech you to regard, not only 
as your privilege, but as your duty too. Love is the most sub- 
lime, generous principle, of all true and acceptable obedience ; 
and with love, when so wisely and happily fixed, when so cer- 
tainly returned, joy, proportionable joy, must naturally be 
connected. It may justly grieve a man that enters into the 
spirit of Christianity, to see how low a life even the gener- 
ality of sincere Christians commonly live in this respect. 
" Rejoice then in the Lord, ye righteous, and give thanks at 
the remembrance of his holiness," (Psalm xcvii. 12.) and 
of all those other perfections and glories, which are included 
in that majestic, that wonderful, that delightful name, The 
Lord thy God! Spend not your sacred moments merely 
in confession or in petition, though each must have their daily 
share ; but give a part, a considerable part, to the celestial 
and angelic work of praise. Yea, labor to carry about with 
you continually a heart overflowing with such sentiments, 
warmed and inflamed with such affections. 

2. Are there not continually rays enough diffused from the 
great Father of light and love to enkindle it in our bosom'? 
Come, my Christian frieud and brother, come and survey 
with me the goodness of our heavenly Father. And, oh ! 
that he would give me such a sense of it, that I might repre- 
sent it in a suitable manner, that " while I am musing, the 
fire may burn" in my own heart, (Psalm xxxix. 3.) and be 
commuuicated to yours! And, oh! that it might pass, with 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 227 

die lines I write, from soul to soul, awakening in the breast 
of every Christian that reads them, sentiments more worthy 
of the children of God, and the heirs of glory, who are to 
spend an eternity in those sacred exercises to which I am now 
endeavoring to excite you! 

. 3. Have you not reason to adopt the words of David, and 
say, " How many are thy gracious thoughts unto me, O Lord! 
How great is the sum of them! When I would count them, 
they are more in number than the sand." Psal. cxxxix. 17, 
18. You indeed know where to begin the survey, for the 
favors of God to you began with your being. Commemorate 
it therefore with a grateful heart, that the eyes which " saw 

Jrour substance, being yet imperfect," beheld you with a friend- 
ycare t( when you were made in secret," and have watched 
over you ever since; and that the hand, which " drew the 
plan of your members, when as yet there was none of them," 
(Psalm cxxxix. 15, 16.) not only fashioned them at first, 
but from that time has been concerned in " keeping all your 
bones, so that none of them is broken," (Psalm xxxiv. 20.) 
and that, indeed, it is to this you owe it, that you live. Look 
back upon the path you have trod, from the day that God 
brought you out of the womb, and say, whether you do not, 
as it were, see all the road thick set with the marks and me- 
morials of the divine goodness. Recollect the places where 
you have lived, and the persons with whom you have most 
intimately conversed ; and call to mind the mercies you have 
received in those places, and from those persons, as the in- 
struments of the divine care and goodness. Recollect the 
difficulties and dangers with which you have been surround- 
ed, and reflect attentively on what God hath done to defend vou 
from them, or to carry you through them. Think how often 
there has been but a step between you and death, and how 
suddenly God has sometimes interposed to set you in safety, 
even before you apprehended your danger. Think of those 
chambers of illness, in which you have been confined, and 
from whence, perhaps, you once thought you should go forth 
no more ; but said, with Hezekiah, in the cutting off of your 
days, " I shall go to the gates of the grave, I am deprived of 
the residue of my years." Isa. xxxviii. 10. God has, it 
may be, since that time, added many years to your life ; and 
you know not how many are in reserve, or how much useful- 
ness and happiness may attend each. Survey your circum- 
stances in relative life; how many kind friends are surround- 
ing you daily, and studying how they may contribute to your 



ft28 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

comfort. Reflect on those remarkable circumstances in Prov- 
idence, which occasioned the knitting of some bonds of this 
kind, which, next to those which join your soul to God, you 
number among the happiest. And forget not, in how many 
instances, when these dear lives have been threatened, lives 
perhaps more sensibly dear than your own, God has given 
them back from the borders of the grave, and so added new 
endearments, arising from that tender circumstance, to all 
your after converse with them. Nor forget, in how gracious 
a manner he hath supported some others in their last moments, 
and enabled them to leave behind a sweet odor of piety, 
which hath embalmed their memories, revived you when 
ready to faint under the sorrows of the last separation, and, 
on the whole, made even the recollection of their death de- 
lightful. 

4. But it is more than time that I lead on your thoughts to 
the many spiritual mercies which God has bestowed upon 
you. Look back, as it were, to " the rock from whence you 
were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence you were 
digged." Isa. li. 1. Reflect seriously on the state wherein 
divine grace found you : under how much guilt, under how 
much pollution! in what danger, in what ruin! Think what 
was, and O think with yet deeper reflection, what would have 
been the case ! The eye of God, which penetrates into eter- 
nity, saw what your mind, amused with the trifles of the 
present time and sensual gratification, was utterly ignorant 
and regardless of, it saw you on the borders of eternity, and 
pitied you ; saw, that you would in a little time have been 
such a helpless, wretched creature, as the sinner that is just 
now dead, and has, to his infinite surprise and everlasting 
terror, met his unexpected doom ; and would, like him, stand 
thunderstruck in astonishment and despair. This God saw, 
and he pitied you ; and, being merciful to you, he provided, in 
the counsel of his eternal love and grace, a Redeemer for you, 
and purchased you to himself with the blood of his Son: a 
price, which, if you will pause upon it, and think seriously 
what it was, must surely affect you to such a degree, as to 
make you to fall down before God in wonder and shame, to 
think it should ever have been given for you. To accomplish 
these blessed purposes, he sent his grace into your heart ; so 
that, though M you were once darkness, you are now light in 
the Lord." Epli. v. 8. He made that happy change which 
you now feel in your soul, and " by his Holy Spirit which is 
given to you," he shed abroad that principle of love, (Rom. 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 229 

v. 5.) which is enkindled by this review, and now flames with 
greater ardor than before. Thus far he hath supported you 
in your Christian course, and " having obtained help from 
him," it is, that you continue even to this day. Acts, xxvi. 
22. He hath not only blessed you, but i( made you a bless- 
ing;" (Gen. xii. 2.) and though you have not been so use- 
ful as that holy generosity of heart which he has excited 
would have engaged you to desire, yet some good you have 
done in the station in which he has fixed you. Some of your 
brethren of mankind have been relieved, perhaps, too, some 
thoughtless creature reclaimed to virtue and happiness, by 
his blessing on your endeavors. Some in the way to heaven 
are praising God for you ; and some, perhaps already there, 
are longing for your arrival, that they may thank you, in no- 
bler and more expressive forms, for benefits, the importance 
of which they now sufficiently understand, though, while here, 
they could never conceive it. 

5. Christian, look around on the numberless blessings, of 
one kind and of another, with which you are already encom- 
passed ; and advance your prospect still further, to what faith 
yet discovers within the veil. Think of those now unknown 
transports with which thou shalt drop every burden in the 
grave; and thine immortal spirit shall mount, light and joy- 
ful, holy and happy, to God, its original, its support, and its 
hope; to God, the source of being, of holiness, and of pleas- 
ure ; to Jesus, through whom all these blessings are derived 
to thee, and who will appoint thee a throne near to his own, 
to be forever the spectator and partaker of his glory. Think 
of the rapture with which thou shalt attend his triumph in 
the resurrection-day, and receive this poor, mouldering, cor- 
ruptible body, transformed into his glorious image ; and then 
think, " These hopes are not mine alone, but the hopes of 
thousands and millions. Multitudes, whom I number among 
the dearest of my friends upon the earth, are rejoicing with 
me in these apprehensions and views; and God gives me 
sometimes to see the smiles on their cheeks, the sweet, hum- 
ble hope that sparkles in their eyes and shines through the 
tears of tender gratitude, and to hear that little of their in- 
ward complacency and joy which language can express. Yea, 
and multitudes more, who were once equally dear to me with 
these, though I have laid them in the grave, and wept over 
the dust, are living to God, living in the possession of incon- 
ceivable delights, and drinking large draughts of the water 
©f life, which flows in perpetual streams at his right haad." 



i30 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



6. O Christian! thou art still intimately united and allied 
to them. Death cannot break a friendship thus cemented, 
and it ought not to render thee insensible of the happiness of 
those friends, for whose memory thou retainest so just an hon- 
or. They live to God as his servants ; they '* serve him, 
and see his face," (Rev. xxii. 3, 4.) and they make but a 
small part of that glorious assembly. Millions, equally wor- 
thy of thine esteem and affection with themselves, inhabit 
those blissful regions; and wilt thou not rejoice in their joy 1 
And wilt thou not adore that everlasting spring of holiness 
and happiness, from whence each of their streams is derived 1 
Yea, I will add, while the blessed angels are so kindly re- 
garding us, while they are ministering to thee, O Christian! 
and bearing thee in their arms, " as an heir of salvation," 
(Heb. i. 14.) wilt thou not rejoice in their felicity too 1 And 
wilt thou not adore that God, who gives them all the superi- 
or glory of their more exalted nature, and gives them a heav- 
en, which fills them with blessedness, even while they seem 
to withdraw from it, that they may attend on theel 

7. This, and infinitely more than this, the blessed God is, 
and was, and shall ever be. The felicities of the blessed 
spirits that surround his throne, and thy felicities, O Christ- 
ian! are immortal. These heavenly luminaries shall glow 
with an undecaykig flame, and thou shalt shine and burn 
among them, when the sun and the stars are gone out. Still 
shall the unchanging Father of lights pour forth his beams 
upon them; and the lustre they reflect from him, and their 
happiness in him, shall be everlasting, shall be ever growing. 
Bow down, O thou child of God, thou heir of glory, bow 
down, and let all that is within thee unite in one act of grate- 
ful love; and let all that is around thee, all that is before 
thee in the prospects of an unbounded eternity, concur to ele- 
vate and transport thy soul, that thou mayest, as far as pos- 
sible, begin the work and blessedness of heaven, in falling 
down before the God of it, in opening thine heart to his gra- 
cious influences, and in breathing out before him that incense 
of praise, which these warm beams of his presence and love 
have so great a tendency to produce, and to ennoble with a 
fragrancy resembling that of his paradise above. 



lied 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 231 

The grateful Soul rejoicing in the Blessings of Provi- 
dence and Grace, and pouring out itself before God 
in vigorous and affectionate Exercises of Love and. 
Praise. 

" O my God, it is enough! I have mused, and ' the fire 
burneth !' Psalm xxxix. 3. But, oh! in what language shall 
the flame break forth 1 What can I say but this, that my 
heart admires thee, and adores thee, and loves thee'? Mv 
little vessel is as full as it can hold ; and I would pour out all 
that fulness before thee, that it may grow capable of receiv- 
ing more and more. Thou art ' my hope and my help ; my 
glory, and the lifter up of my head.' Psalm iii. 3. 6 My heart 
rejoiceth in thy salvation;' (Psalm xiii. 5.) and when I set 
myself, under the influences of thy good Spirit, to converse 
with thee, a thousand delightful thoughts spring up at once, 
a thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed, and flew in upon 
my soul with such refreshment and joy, that they seem to 
crowd into every moment the happiness of days, and weeks, 
and months. 

" I bless thee, O God, for this soul of mine which thou hast 
created, which thou hast taught to say, and I hope to the hap- 
piest purpose, ( Where is God ray Maker!' Job, xxxv. 10. 
I bless thee for the knowledge with which thou hast adorned 
it. I bless thee for that grace with which I trust I may (not 
without humble wonder) say, thou hast sanctified it ; though, 
alas ! the celestial plant is fixed in too barren a soil, and does 
not flourish to the degree I could wish. 

" I bless thee also for that body which thou hast given me, 
and which thou preservest as yet in its strength and vigor, 
not only capable of relishing the entertainments which thou 
providest for its various senses, but (which I esteem far more 
valuable than any of them for its own sake) capable of acting 
with some vivacity in thy service. I bless thee for that ease 
and freedom with which these limbs of mine move themselves, 
and obey the dictates of my spirit, I hope as guided by thine. 
I bless thee, that ' the keepers of my house do not yet trem- 
ble, nor the strong men bow themselves ;' that they ' that look 
out of the windows are not yet darkened, nor the daughter? 
of music brought low.' I bless thee O God of my life! that 
* the silver cord is not yet loosed, nor the golden bowl broken ;' 
(Eccl. xii. 3, 4, 6.) for it is thine hand that braces all my 
nerves, and thine infinite skill that prepares those spirits, 
which flow in so freely, and when exhausted, recruit so soori 



232 RISE AZSD PROGRESS OF 

and so plentifully. I praise thee for that royal bounty with 
which thou providest for the daily support of mankind in gen- 
eral, and for mine in particular; for the various tables which 
thou spreadest before me, and for the overflowing cup which 
thou i puttest into my hands.' Psalui xxiii. 5. I bless thee, 
that these bounties of thy providence do not serve, as it were, 
to upbraid a disabled appetite, and are not s like messes of 
meat set before the dead,' I bless thee too, that I c eat not 
my morsel alone,' (Job, xxxi. 17.) but share it with so many 
agreeable friends, w 7 ho add the relish of a social life to that 
of the animal, at our seasons of common repast. I thank 
thee for so many dear relatives at home, for so many kind 
friends abroad, who are capable of serving me in various in- 
stances, and disposed to make an obliging use of that capacity. 

" Nor would I forget to acknowledge thy favor in render- 
ing me capable of serving others, and giving me in any in- 
stance to know, how much e more blessed it is to give than 
to receive.' Acts, xx. 35. I thank thee for a heart which 
feels the sorrows of the necessitous, and a mind which can 
make it my early care and refreshment to contrive, according 
to my little ability, for their relief; for ( this also cometh forth 
from thee, O Lord!' (Isa, xxviii, 29.) the great Author of 
every benevolent inclination, of every prudent scheme, of ev- 
ery successful attempt to spread happiness around us, or in 
any instance to lessen distress. 

" And surely, O Lord, if I thus acknowledge the pleasures 
jf sympathy with the afflicted, much more must 1 bless thee 
for those of sympathy with the happy, with those that are 
completely blessed. I adore thee for the streams that water 
Paradise, and maintain it in ever-flourishing, ever-growing 
lelight. I praise thee for the rest, the joy, the transport, thou 
art giving to many that were once dear to me on earth, whose 
sorrows it was my labor to soothe, and whose joys, especially 
in thee, it was the delight of my heart to promote. I praise 
thee for the blessedness of every saint, and of every angel, 
fhat surrounds thy throne above ; and I praise thee, with ac- 
cents of distinguished pleasure, for that reviving hope which 
thou hast implanted in my bosom, that I shall, ere long, know, 
by clear sight, and by everlasting experience, what that felicity 
)f theirs is, which I now only discover at a distance, through 
; he comparatively obscure glass of faith. Even now, through 
rhy grace, do I feel myself borne forward by thy supporting 
mn to those regions of blessedness. Even now ami ( wait- 
ing for thy salvation,' (Gen, xlix. 18.) with that ardent de- 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 233 

sire, on the one hand, which its sublime greatness cannot but 
inspire into the believing soul, and that calm resignation, on 
the other, which the immutability of thy promise establishes. 

" And now, O my God, what shall I say unto thee! what, 
but that I love thee above all the powers of language to ex- 
press ! That I love thee for what thou art to thy creatures, 
who are, in their various forms, every moment deriving be- 
ing, knowledge, and happiness from thee, in numbers and de- 
grees far beyond what my narrow imagination can conceive. 
But, oh! I adore and love thee yet far more for what thou art 
in thyself, for those stores of perfection which creation has 
not diminished, and which can never be exhausted by all 
the effects of it which thou impartest to thy creatures ; that 
infinite perfection which makes thee thine own happiness, 
thine own end ; amiable, infinitely amiable and venerable, 
were all derived excellence and happiness forgot. 

" O thou first, thou greatest, thou fairest of all objects! 
thou only great, thou only fair, possess all my soul! And 
surely thou dost possess it. While I thus feel thy sacred Spirit 
breathing on my heart, and exciting these fervors of love to 
thee, I cannot doubt it any more than 1 can doubt the reality 
of this animal life, while I exert the actings of it, and feel 
its sensations. Surely, if ever I knew the appetite of hunger, 
my soul ( hungers after righteousness, 5 (Matt. v. 6.) and longs 
for a greater conformity to thy blessed nature and holy will. 
If ever my palate felt thirst, ( my soul thirsteth for God, even 
for the living God, 5 (Psalm xlii. 2.) and panteth for the more 
abundant communication of his favor. If ever this body, 
when wearied with labor or journies, knew what it was to 
wish for the refreshment of my bed, and rejoice to rest there, 
my soul, with sweet acquiescence, rests upon thy gracious 
bosom, O my heavenly Father, and returns to its repose in 
the embraces of its God, i who hath dealt so bountifully with 
it. 5 Psalm cxvi. 7. And if ever I saw the face of a beloved 
friend with complacency and joy, I rejoice in beholding thy 
face, O Lord, and in calling thee my Father in Christ. Such 
thou art, and such thou wilt be, for time and for eternity. 
What have I more to do, but to commit myself to thee for 
both! Leaving it to thee to £ choose my inheritance, 5 and to 
order my affairs for me, (Psalm xlvii. 4.) while all my busi- 
ness i3 to serve thee, and all my delight to praise thee. { My 
soul follows hard after God, 5 because ' his right hand upholds 
me. 5 Psalm lxiii. 8. Let it still bear me up, and I shall presa 
on toward thee, till all my desires be accomplished in the 
eternal enjoyment of thee! Amen, 55 



£34 rise AND PROGRESS OF 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 






THE ESTABLISHED CHRISTIAN URGED TO EXERT HIM- 
SELF FOR PURPOSES OF USEFULNESS. 

1, 2. A sincere love to God will express itself not only in devo- 
tion but in benevolence to men. — 3. This is the command of 
God. — 4. The true Christian feels his soul wrought to a holy 
conformity to it. — 5. And therefore will desire instruction on 
this head. — 6. Accordingly, directions are given for the im- 
provement of various talents : particularly genius and learn- 
ing. — 7. Power. — 8. Domestic authority. — 9. Esteem. — 10. 
Riches. — 11. Several good ways of employing them hinted at. 
-—12, 13. Prudence in expense urged, for the support of chare 
ity. — 14. Divine direction in this respect to be sought. The 
Chr istian breathing after more extensive usefulness. 

1. Such as I have described in the former chapter, I trust, 
are and will be the frequent exercises of your soul before 
God. Thus will your love and gratitude breathe itself forth 
in the divine presence, and will, through Jesus the great Me- 
diator, come up before it as incense, and yield an acceptable 
savor. But then, you must remember, this will not be the 
only effect of that love to God, which I have supposed so warm 
in your heart. If it be sincere, it will not spend itself in 
words alone, but will discover itself in actions, and will pro- 
duce, as its genuine fruit, an unfeigned love to your fellow- 
creatures and an unwearied desire aad labor to do them good 
continually. 

2. " Has the great Father of mercies," will you say, " look- 
ed upon me with so gracious an eye! has he not only forgiven 
me ten thousand offences, but enriched me with such a vari- 
ety of benefits'? O what shall I render to him for them aJH 
Instruct me, O ye oracles of eternal truth! Instruct me, ye 
elder brethren in the family of my heavenly Father! Instruct 
me, above all, O thou Spirit of wisdom and love! what I 
may be able to do, to express my love to the great eternal foun- 
tain of love, and to approve my fidelity to him who has al- 
ready done so much to engage it, and who will take so much 
pleasure in owning and rewarding it !" 

3. This, O Christian! is the command which we have 
heard from the beginning, and it will ever continue in unim- 
paired force, " that he who loveth God," should " love his 
brother also," (1 John, iv. 21.) and should express that love, 
" not in word and profession alone, but in deed and in truth." 
1 John, iii. 18. You are to love your neighbor as yourself; 



RELIGION IK THE SOUL. 235 

to love the whole creation of God ; and, so far as your influ- 
ence can extend, must endeavor to make it happy. 

4. " Yes," will you not say, and " I do love it. I feel the 
golden chain of divine love encircling us all, and binding us 
close to each other, joining us in one body, and diffusing, as 
it were, one soul through all. May happiness, true and sub- 
lime, perpetual and ever-growing happiness, reign through 
the whole world of God's rational and obedient creatures in 
heaven and on earth! And may every revolted creature, that 
is capable of being recovered and restored, be made obedi- 
ent! Yea, may the necessary punishment of those who are 
irrecoverable, be over-ruled by infinite wisdom and love to 
the good of the whole!" 

5. These are right sentiments, and if they are indeed the 
sentiments of your heart, O reader ! and not an empty form 
of vain words, they will be attended with a serious concern 
to act in subordination to this great scheme of divine Prov- 
idence, according to your abilities in their utmost extent. 
And to this purpose, they will put you on surveying the pecu- 
liar circumstances of your life and being, that you may dis- 
cover what opportunities of usefulness they now afford, and 
how those opportunities and capacities may be improved. 
Enter therefore into such a survey, not that you may pride 
yourself in the distinctions of divine Providence or grace to- 
wards you, or, "having received, may glory as if you had 
not received;" (1 Cor. iv. 7.) but that you may deal faith- 

I fully with the the great Proprietor, whose steward you are, 
and by whom you are entrusted with every talent, which, 
1 with respect to any claim from your fellow-creatures, you 
i may call your own. And here, " having gifts differing ac- 
i cording to the grace that is given to us," (Rom. xii. 6.) 
I let us hold the balance with an impartial hand, that so we 
may determine what it is that God requires of us ; which is 
, nothing less than doing the most we can invent, contrive, and 
effect, for the general good. But, oh ! how seldom is this es- 
timate faithfully made! And how much does the world around 
i us, and how much do our own souls suffer, for want of that 
I fidelity ! 

6. Hath God given you genius and learning! It was -not 
I that you might amuse or deck yourself with it, and kindle a 

blaze which should only serve to attract and dazzle the eyes 
of men. It was intended to be the means of leading both 
yourself and them to the Father of lights. And it will be 
your duty, according to the peculiar turn of that genius and 



236 



RISE AND PROGRESS OF 






capacity, either to endeavor to improve and adorn human life, 
or, by a more direct application of it to divine subjects, to 
plead the cause of religion, to defend its truths, to enforce 
and recommend its practice, to deter men from courses which 
would be dishonorable to God and fatal to themselves, and 
to try the utmost efforts of all the solemnity and tenderness 
with which you can clothe your addresses, to lead them into 
the paths of virtue and happiness. 

7. Has God invested you with power, whether it be in a 
larger or smaller society 1 Remember that this power was 
given you, that God might be honored, and those placed under 
your government, whether domestic or public, might be made 
happy. Be concerned, therefore, that, whether you be en- 
trusted with the rod, or the sword, it may " not be borne in 
vain." Rom. xiii. 4. Are you a magistrate! Have you any 
share in the great and tremendous charge of enacting laws "] 
Reverence the authority of the supreme Legislator, the great 
Guardian of society : promote none, consent to none, which 
you do not in your own conscience esteem, in present circum- 
stances, an intimation of his will, and in the establishment 
of which you do not firmly believe you shall be ({ his minis- 
ter for good." Rom. xiii. 4. Have you the charge of exe- 
cuting lawsl Put life into them by a vigorous and strenuous 
execution, according to the nature of the particular office you 
bear. Retain not an empty name of authority. Permit not 
yourself, as it were, to fall asleep on the tribunal. Be active, 
be wakeful, be observant of what passes around you. Pro- 
tect the upright and the innocent. Break in pieces the pow- 
er of the oppressor. Unveil every dishonest heart. Disgrace, 
as well as defeat, the wretch that makes his distinguished 
abilities the disguise or protection of the wickedness which 
he ought rather to endeavor to expose, and to drive out of 
the world with abhorrence. 

8. Are you placed only at the head of a private family 1 
Rule it for God. Administer the concerns of that little king- 
dom with the same views, and on the same principles, which 
I have been inculcating on the powerful and the great, if, by 
an unexpected accident, any of them should suffer their eyes 
to glance upon the passage above. Your children and ser- 
vants are your natural subjects. Let good order be establish- 
ed among them, and keep them under a regular discipline. 
Let them be instructed in the principles of religion, that they 
may know how reasonable such a discipline is; and let them 
be accustomed to act accordingly. You cannot indeed change 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 237 

their hearts, but you may very much influence their conduct, 
and by that means may preserve them from many snares, may 
do a great deal to make them good members of society, and 
may set them, as it were, "in the way of God's steps," 
(Psalm lxxxv. 13.) if peradventure passing by he may bless 
them with the riches of his grace. And fail not to do your 
utmost to convince them of their need of those blessings ; la- 
bor to engage them to a high esteem of them, and to an ear- 
nest desire of them, as incomparably more valuable than any 
thing else. 

9. Again, has God been pleased to raise you to esteem 
among your fellow-creatures, which is not always in propor- 
tion to a man's rank or possession in human life'? Are your 
counsels heard with attention! Is your company sought'? 
Does God give you good acceptance in the eyes of men, so 
that they do not only put the fairest constructions on your 
words, but overlook faults of which you are conscious to your- 
self, and consider your actions and performances in the most 
indulgent and favorable light 1 You ought to regard this, not 
only as a favor of Providence, and as an encouragement to 
you cheerfully to pursue your duty, in the several branches of 
it, for the time to come, but also, as giving you much greater 
opportunities of usefulness than in your present station you 
could otherwise have had. If your character has any weight 
in the world, throw it into the right scale. Endeavor to keep 
virtue and goodness in countenance. Affectionately give your 
hand to modest worth, where it seems to be depressed or ov- 
erlooked ; though shining, when viewed in its proper light, 
|i with a lustre which you may think much superior to your own. 
Be an advocate for truth ; be a counsellor of peace ; be an 
! example of candor ; and do all you can to reconcile the hearts 
of men, especially of good men, to each other, however they 
i may differ in their opinions about matters which it is possi- 
' ble for good men to dispute. And let the caution and humili- 
ty of your behavior, in circumstances of such superior emi- 
I nence, and amidst so many tokens of general esteem, silently 
j reprove the rashness and haughtiness of those who perhaps 
: are remarkable for little else ; or who, if their abilities were 
I indeed considerable, must be despised, and whose talents must 
be in a great measure lost to the public, till that rashness and 
I haughtiness of spirit be subdued. Nor suffer yourself to be 
interrupted in this generous and worthy course, by the little 
attacks of envy and calumny which you may meet. Be still 
attentive to the general good, and steadily resolute in your 



938 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

efforts to promote it ; and leave it to Providence to guard or 
to rescue your character from the base assaults of malice and 
falsehood, which will often, without your labor, confute them- 
selves, and heap upon the authors greater shame, or (if they 
are inaccessible to that) greater infamy, tha*n your humanity 
will allow you to wish them. 

10. Once more, Has God blessed you with riches 1 Has 
he placed you in such circumstances, that you have more 
than you absolutely need for the subsistence of yourself and 
your family 1 Remember your approaching account. Re- 
member what an incumbrance these things often prove to 
men in the way of their salvation, and how often, according 
to our Lord's express declaration, they render it "as diffi- 
cult to enter into the kingdom of God, as it is for a camel 
to go through the eye of a needle." Matt. xix. 24. Let it 
therefore be your immediate, your earnest, and your daily 
prayer, that riches may not be a snare and a shame to you, 
as they are to by far the greater part of their possessors. Ap- 
propriate, I beseech you, some certain part and proportion 
of your estate and revenue to charitable uses; with a provis- 
ional increase, as God shall prosper you in any extraordinary 
instance. By this means you will always have a fund of 
charity at hand ; and you will probably be more ready to 
communicate, when you look upon what is so deposited as 
not in any seuse your own, but as already actually given away 
to those uses, though not yet affixed to particular objects. It 
is not for me to say what that proportion ought to be. To 
those who have large revenues, and no children, perhaps a 
third or one half may be too little ; to those whose incomes 
are small, and their charge considerable, though they have 
something more than is absolutely necessary, it is possible a 
tenth may be too much. But pray that God would guide your 
mind; make a trial for one year, on such terms as in your 
conscience you think will be most pleasing to him; and let 
your observations on that teach you to fix your proportion 
for the next; always remembering, that he requires justice 
in the first place, and alms-deeds only so far as may consist 
with that. Yet at the same time, take heed of that treach- 
erous, delusive, and, in many instances, destructive imagina- 
tion, " that justice to your own family requires that you should 
leave your children very rich;" which has perhaps cost some 
parsimonious parents the lives of those darlings for whom 
they laid up the portion of the poor; and what fatal conse- 
quences of divine displeasure may attend it to those that yet 



RELIGION IK THE SOUL. 239 

survive, God only knows ; and I heartily pray that you or 
yours may never learn by experience. 

11. And that your heart may be yet more opened, and that 
your charity may be directed to the best purposes, let me 
briefly mention a variety of good uses, which may call for 
the consideration of those whom God has in this respect dis- 
tinguished by an ability to do good. To assist the hints I 
am to offer, look around on the neighborhood in which yoa 
live. Think how many honest and industrious, perhaps too, 
I might add, religious people, are making very hard shifts 
to struggle through life. Think what a comfort that would 
be to them, which you might without any incovenience spare 
from that abundance which God hath given you. Hearken 
also to any extraordinary calls of charity which may happen, 
especially those of a public nature, and help them forward 
with your example, and your interest in them, which perhaps 
may be of much greater importance than the sum which you 
contribute, considered in itself. Have a tongue to plead for 
the necessitous, as well as a hand to relieve them ; and en- 
deavor to discountenance those poor, shameful excuses, which 
covetousness often dictates to those whose art may indeed 
set some varnish on what they suggest, but so slight a one 
that the coarse ground will appear through it. See how many 
poor children are wandering naked and ignorant about the 
streets, and in the way to all kinds of vice and misery ; and 
consider what can be done toward clothing some of them 
at least, and instructing them in the principles of religion. 
Would every thriving family in a town, who are able to af- 
ford help on such occasions, cast a pitying eye on one poor 
family in its neighborhood, and take it under their patron- 
age, to assist in feeding, and clothing, and teaching the chil- 
dren, in supporting it in affliction, in defending it from 
wrongs, and in advising those that have the management of 
it, as circumstances might require, how great a difference 
would soon be produced in the character and circumstances 
of the community 1 Observe who are sick, that, if there be 
no public infirmary at hand to which you can introduce them, 
(where your contribution will yield the largest increase,) you 
may do something towards relieving them at home, and sup- 
plying them with advice and medicines, as w ? ell as with prop- 
er diet and attendance. Consider also the spiritual necessi- 
ties of men : in providing for which, I would particularly 
recommend to you the very important and noble charity of 
assisting young persons of genius and piety, with what is 



240 RISE AND PROGRESS OE 

necessary to support the expense of their education for the 
ministry, in a proper course of grammatical or academical 
studies. And grudge not some proportion of what God hath 
given you, to those who, resigning all temporal views to min- 
ister to you the Gospel of Christ, have surely an equitable 
claim to be supported by you, in a capacity of rendering you 
those services, however laborious, to which, for your sates, 
and that of our common Lord, they have devoted their lives. 
And while you are so abundantly " satisfied with the good- 
ness of God's house, even of his own temple," Psalm lxv. 
4.) have compassion on those who dwell in a desert land; 
and rejoice to do something towards sending among the dis- 
tant rations of the heathen world, that glorious Gospel which 
hath so long continued unknown to multitudes, though the 
knowledge of it, with becoming regard, be life everlasting. 
These are a few important charities, which I would point 
out to those whom Providence has enriched with its peculiar 
bounties ; and it renders gold more precious than it could ap- 
pear in any other light, that it is capable of being employed 
for such purposes. But if you should not have gold to spare 
for them, contribute your silver ; or, as a farthing or a mite 
is not overlooked by God when it is given from a truly gen- 
erous and charitable heart, (Mark, xii. 42, 43.) let that be 
cheerfully dropped into the treasury, where richer offerings 
cannot be afforded i 

12. And that, amidst so many pressing demands for char- 
ity, you may be better furnished to answer them, seriously 
reflect on your manner of living. I say not, that God re- 
quires you should become one of the many poor relieved out 
of your income. The support of society, as at present es- 
tablished, will not only permit, but require, that some per- 
sons should allow themselves in the elegancies and delights 
of life; by furnishing which, multitudes of poor families are 
much more creditably and comfortably subsisted, with great- 
er advantage to themselves and safety to the public, than 
they could be, if the price of their labors, or of the commo- 
dities in which they deal, were to be given them as alms ; 
nor can I imagine it grateful to God, that his gifts should be 
refused, as if they were meant for snares and curses rather 
than benefits. This were to frustrate the benevolent pur- 
poses of the gracious Father of mankind, and if carried to 
its rigor, would be a sort of conspiracy against the whole 
system of nature. Let the bounties of Providence be used; 
but let us carefully see to it, that it be in a moderate and 






RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 241 

prudent manner, lest, by our own folly, " that which 
should have been for our welfare became a trap." Psalm 
Ixix. 22. Let your conscience say, my dear reader, with re- 
gard to yourself, what proportion of the good things you pos- 
sess your Heavenly Father intends for yourself, and what 
for your brethren, and live not as if you had no brethren, 
as if pleasing yourself in all the magnificence and luxury you 
can devise, were the end for which you were sent into the 
world. I fear this is the excess of the present age, and 
not an excess of rigor and mortification. Examine, there- 
fore, your expenses, and compare them with your income. 
That may be shamefully extravagant in you, w T hich may not 
only be pardonable, but commendable in another of superior 
estate. Nor can you be sure that you do not exceed, merely 
because you do not plunge yourself into debt, nor render 
yourself incapable of laying up any thing for your family. If 
you be disabled from "doing any thing for the poor, or any 
thing proportionable to your rank in life, by that genteel arid 
elegant way of living which you affect, God must disapprove 
of such a conduct ; and you ought, as you will answer it to 
him, to retrench it. And though the divine indulgence will 
undoubtedly be exercised to those in whom there is a sin- 
cere principle of faith in Christ, and undissembled love to 
God and man, though it act not to that height of benefi- 
cence and usefulness which might have been attained ; yet 
be assured of this, that he, who rendereth to every one 
according to his works, will have a strict regard to the de- 
grees of the goodness in the distribution of final rewards; 
so that every neglected opportunity draws after it an irre-> 
parable loss, which will go into eternity along with you. And 
let me add, too, that every instance of negligence indulged, 
renders the mind still more and more indolent and weak, 
and consequently more indisposed to recover the ground which 
has been lost, or even to maintain that which has been hith- 
erto kept. 

13. Complain not that this is imposing hard things upon 
you. I am only directing your pleasures into a nobler chan- 
nel; and indeed that frugality, which is the source of such 
a generosity, far from being at all injurious to your reputa- 
tion, will rather, among wise and good men, greatly promote 
it. But you have far nobler motives before you than thos§ 
• which arise from their regards. I speak to you as to a child 
of God, and a member of Christ; as joined, therefore, by 
the most intimate union, to all the poorest of those that be-. 

21 



242 RISE AIS T D PROGRESS OF 

lieve in him. I speak to you as to an heir of eternal glory, 
who ought therefore to have sentiments great and sublime, 
in some proportion to that expected inheritance. 

14. Cast about therefore in your thoughts, what good is 
to be done, and what you can do, either in your own person, 
or by your interest with others ; and go about it with reso- 
lution, as in the name and presence of the Lord. And as 
the Lord giveth wisdom, and out of his mouth cometh knowl- 
edge and understanding," (Prov. ii. 6.) go to the footstool 
of his throne, and there seek that guidance and that grace 
which may suit your present circumstances, and may be effect- 
ual to produce the fruits of holiness and usefulness, to his 
more abundant glory, and to the honor of your christian profes- 
sion. 

To the established Christian breathing after more ex- 
tensive Usefulness. 
i: O bountiful Father, and sovereign Author of all good, 
whether natural or spiritual ! I bless thee for the various 
talents with which thou hast enriched so undeserving a crea- 
ture, as I must acknowledge myself to be. My soul is in the 
deepest confusion before thee, when I consider to how little 
purpose I have hitherto improved them. Alas ! what have 
f done, in proportion to what thou mightest reasonably have 
expected, with the gifts of nature which thou hast bestowed 
upon me, with my capacities of life, with my time, with my 
talents, with my possessions, with my influence over others! 
Alas! through my own negligence and folly, I look back on 
a barren wilderness, where I might have seen a fruitful field, 
and a springing harvest! Justly do I indeed deserve to be 
stripped of all, to be brought to an immediate account for all, 
to be condemned, as in many respects unfaithful to thee, 
and to the world, and to my own soul ; and, in consequence 
of that condemnation, to be cast into the prison of eternal 
darkness! But thou, Lord, hast freely forgiven the dreadful 
debt of ten thousand talents. Adored be thy name for it! 
Accent, O Lord,, accept that renewed surrender, which I 
would now make of myself, and of all I have, unto thy ser- 
vice! I acknowledge that it is ' of thine own that I give 
thee.' 1 Chron. xxxix. 14. Make me, I beseech thee, a 
faithful steward for my great Lord ; and may I think of no 
separate interest of my own, in opposition to thine! 

" I adore thee, O thou God of all grace ! if, while I ara 
thus speaking of thee, I feel the love of thy creatures arising 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 243 

in my soul; if I feel my heart opening to embrace my breth- 
ren of mankind! O make me thy faithful almoner, in dis- 
tributing to them all that thou hast lodged in mine hand for 
their relief! And in determining what is my own share, may 
I hold the balance with an equal hand, and judge impartially 
between myself and them! The proportion thou allowest, 
may I thankfully take for myself and those who are imme- 
diately mine! The rest may I distribute with wisdom, and 
fidelity, and cheerfulness! Guide my hand, O ever merciful 
Father! while thou dost me the honor to make me thine in- 
strument in dealing out a few of thy bounties, that I may 
bestow them where they are most needed, and where they 
will answer the best end! And if it be thy gracious will, do 
thou 'multiply the seed sown;' (2 Cor. ix. 10.) prosper me 
in my worldly affairs, that I may have more to impart to 
them that need it ; and thus lead me on to the region of ev- 
erlasting plenty, and everlasting benevolence ! There may I 
meet with many to whom I have been an affectionate bene- 
factor on earth ; and if it be thy blessed will, with many, 
whom I have also been the means of conducting into the path 
to that blissful abode! There may they entertain me in their 
habitations of glory! And in time and eternity, do thou, 
Lord, accept the praise of all, through Jesus Christ; at 
whose feet I would bow, and at whose feet, after the most, 
useful course, I would at last die, with as much humility as 
if I were then exerting the first act of faith upon him, and 
had never had any opportunity, by one tribute of obedience 
and gratitude in the services of life, to approve its sincerity!" 



344 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE CHRISTIAN REJOICING IN THE VIEWS OF DEATH 
AND JUDGMENT. 

! . Death and judgment are near : but the Christian has reason 
to welcome both. — 2. Yet nature recoils from the solemnity of 
them. — 3. An attempt to reconcile the mind to the prospect of 
death. — 4. From the consideration of the many evils that sur- 
round us in this mortal life. — 5. Of the remainder of sin which 
we feel within us. — 6, 7. And of the happiness which is imme- 
diately to succeed death. — 8. All which might make the Christ- 
ian willing to die in the most agreeable circumstances of hu- 
man life. — 9. The Christian has reason to rejoice in the pros- 
pect of judgment. — 10. Since, however awful it may be, Christ 
will then come, to vindicate his honor, to display his glory, 
and to triumph over his enemies. — 11. As also to complete the 
happiness of every believer. — 12, 13. And of the whole church. 
The meditation of a Christian whose heart is warm with these 
prospects. 

1. When the visions of the Lord were closing upon John, 
the beloved disciple, in the island of Patmos, it is observa- 
ble, that he who gave him that revelation, even Jesus, the 
faithful and true witness, concludes with these lively and im- 
portant words : " He who testifieth these things saith, Surely 
I come quickly:" and John answered, with the greatest 
readiness and pleasure, "Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus!" 
Come, as thou hast said, surely and quickly. And remember, 
O Christian! whoever you are that are now reading these 
words, your divine Lord speaks in the same language to you : 
(i Behold, I come quickly." Yes, very quickly will he come 
by death, to turn the key, to open the door of the grave for 
thine admittance thither, and to lead thee through it into the 
now unknown regions of the invisible world. Nor is it long 
before " the Judge, who standeth at the door," (Jam. v. 9.) 
will appear also for universal judgment; and though, per- 
haps, not only scores, but hundreds of years will lie between 
that period and the present moment, yet it is but a very 
small point of time to him, who views at once all the un- 
measurable ages of a past and future eternity. "A thousand 
years are with him but as one day, and one day as a thou- 
sand years." 2 Pet, iii. 8. In both these senses, then, does 
he come quickly. And I trust you can answer, with a glad 
Amen, that the warning is not terrible or unpleasant to your 
cars, but rather that his coming, his certain, his speedy 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 245 

coming, is the object of your delightful hope, and of your 
longing expectation. 

2. I am sure it is reasonable it should be so ; and yet per- 
haps nature, fond of life, and unwilling to part with a long 
known abode, to enter on a state to which it is entirely a 
stranger, may recoil from the thoughts of dying; or, struck 
with the awful pomp of an expiring and dissolving world, 
may look on the judgment-day with some mixture of terror. 
And therefore, my dear brother in the Lord, (for such I can 
now esteem you,) I would reason with you a little on this 
head, and would entreat you to look more attentively on this 
solemn subject, which will, I trust, grow less disagreeable to 
you, as it is more familiarly viewed. Nay, I hope, that, in- 
stead of starting back from it, you will rather spring forward 
toward it with joy and delight. 

3. Think, O Christian! when Christ comes to call you 
away by death, he comes — to set you at liberty from your 
present sorrows — to deliver you from your struggles with 
remaining corruption — and to receive you to dwell with him- 
self in complete holiness and joy. You shall " be absent 
from the body, and be present with the Lord." 2 Cor. v. 8. 

4. He will indeed call you away from this world, but, oh! 
what is this world, that you should be fond of i.t, and cling 
to it with so much eagerness'? How long are all those en- 
joyments that are peculiar to it ; and how many its vexations, 
its snares, and its sorrows ! Review your pilgrimage thus 
far; and though you must acknowledge, that " goodness and 
mercy have followed you all the days of your life, 5 ' (Psalm 
xxiii. 6.) yet has not that very mercy itself planted som« 
thorns in your path, and given you somewise and necessary, 
yet painful intimations, that " this is not your rest 1" Mic. 
ii. 10. Review the moments of your withered joys, of your 
blasted hopes, if there be yet any monuments of them re- 
maining more than the mournful remembrance they have left 
behind in your afflicted heart. Look upon the graves that 
have swallowed up many of your dearest and most amiable 
friends, perhaps in the very bloom of life, and in the greatest 
intimacy of your converse with them, and reflect, that, if you 
continue a few years more, death will renew its conquests at 
your expense, and devour the most precious of those that yet 
survive. View the living as well as the dead : behold the 
state of human nature under the many grievous marks of its 
apostacy from God, and say, whether a wise and good man 
would wish to continue always here. Methinks, were I my- 



246 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

self secure from being reached by any of the arrows that fly 
around nie, I could not but mourn to see the wounds that 
are given by them, and to hear the groans of those that are 
continually falling under them. The diseases and calamities 
of mankind are so many, and (whicii is most grievous to all) 
the distempers of their minds are so various, and so threat- 
ening, that the world appears almost like a hospital ; and 
a man, whose heart is tender, is ready to feel his spirits brok- 
en as he walks through it, and surveys the sad scene ; espe- 
cially when he sees how little he can do for the recovery of 
those whom he pities. Are you a Christian ? and does it not 
pierce your heart to see how human nature is sunk in vice 
and shame 1 To see with what amazing insolence some are 
making themselves openly vile, and how the name of Christ 
is dishonored by too many that call themselves his people! 
To see the unlawful deeds and filthy practices of them that 
live ungodly, and to behold, at the same time, the infirmities, 
at least, and irregularities af those, concerning whom we 
have better hopes! And do you not wish to escape from 
such a world, where a righteous and compassionate soul 
must be vexed from day to day by so many spectacles of sin 
and misery % 2 Pet. ii. 8. 

5. Yea, to come nearer home, do you not feel something 
within you, which you long to quit, and which would imbit- 
ter even Paradise itself! Something which, were it to con- 
tinue, would grieve and distress you even in the society of 
the blessed! Do you not feel a remainder of indwelling sin ; 
the sad consequence of the original revolt of our nature from 
God! Are you not struggling every day with some residue 
of corruption, or at least mourning on account of the weak- 
ness of your graces ! Do you not often find your spirits dull 
and languid, when you would desire to raise them to the 
greatest fervor in the service of God ! Do you not find your 
heart too often insensible of the richest instances of his love 
and your hands feeble in his service, even when " te> will is 
present with you !" Rom. vii. 18. Does not your life, in 
its best days and hours, appear a low, unprofitable thing, 
when compared with what you are sensible it ought to be, 
and with what you wish that it were! Are you not fre- 
quently, as it were, " stretching the pinions of the mind," 
and saying, " O that I had wings like a dove, that I might 
fly away and be at rest!" Psalm lv. 6. 

6. Should you not then rejoice in the thought, that Jesus 
eomes to deliver you from these complaints ! That he comes 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 247 

to answer your wishes, and to fulfil the largest desires of 
your hearts', those desires that he himself has inspired! That 
he comes to open upon you a world of purity and joy; of 
active, exalted, and unwearied services! 

7. O Christian! how often have you cast a longing eye 
toward those happy shores, and wished to pass the sea, the 
boisterous, unpleasant, dangerous sea, that separates you 
from them! When your Lord has condescended to make 
vou a short visit in his ordinances on earth, how have you 
blessed the time and place, and pronounced it, amidst many 
other disadvantages of situation, to be "the very gate of heav- 
en!" Gen. xxviii. 17. And is it so delightful to behold this 
gate! and will it not be much more so to enter into it! Is it 
so delightful to receive the visits of Jesus for an hour ! and 
will it not be infinitely more so to dwell with him for ever! 
" Lord," may you well say, " when I dwell with thee, I 
shall dwell in holiness, for thou thyself art holiness ; in love, 
for thou thyself art love: I shall dwell in joy, for thou art 
the fountain of joy, as thou art in the Father, and the Father 
in thee." John, xvii. 21. Bid welcome to his approach, 
therefore, to take you at your word, and to fulfil to you that 
saying of his, on which your soul has so often rested with 
heavenly peace and pleasure: "Father, I will that they 
whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they 
may behold my glory which thou hast given me." John, 
xvii. 24. 

8. Surely j 7 ou may say in this view, " The sooner Christ 
comes the better." What though the residue of your days 
be cut off in the midst! What though you leave many ex- 
pected pleasures in life untasted, and many schemes unac- 
complished! Is it not enough, that what is taken from a 
mortal life, shall be added to a glorious eternity ; and that 
you shall spend those days and years in the presence and ser- 
vice of Christ in heaven, which you might otherwise have 
spent with him and for him, in the imperfect enjoyment and 
labors of earth! 

9. But your prospects reach, not only beyond death, but 
beyond the separate state. For with regard to his final ap- 
pearance to judgment, our Lord says, " Surely I come quick- 
ly," in the sense illustrated before; and so it will appear to 
us, if we compare this interval of time with the blissful eter- 
nity which is to succeed it ; and probably, if we compare it 
with those ages which have already passed, since the suit 
began to measure out the earth to its days and its years. 



248 RISE AN© PROGRESS OP 

And will you not here also sing your part in the joyful an- 
them, "Amen; even so come, Lord Jesus I" 

10. It is true, Christian, it is an unlawful day ; a day ia 
which nature shall be thrown into a confusion as yet un- 
known. No earthquake, no eruption of burning mountains, 
no desolation of cities by devouring flames, or of countries 
by overflowing rivers or seas, can give any just emblem of 
that dreadful day, when " the heavens, being on fire, shall 
be dissolved ; the earth also, and all that is therein, shall be 
burnt up;' 5 (2 Pet. iii. 10 — 12.) when all nature shall flee 
away in amazement " before the face of the universal Judge," 
(Rev. xx. 11.) and there shall be a great cry, far beyond 
what was known M in the land of Egypt, when there was not 
a house in which there was not one dead." Exod. xii. 30. 
Your flesh may be ready to tremble at the view ; yet your 
spirit must surely "rejoice in God your Savior." Luke i. 
47. You may justly say, " Let this illustrious day come, 
even with all its horrors!" Yea, like the Christians de- 
scribed by the apostle, (2 Pet. iii. 12.) you may be looking 
for, and hastening to that day of terrible brightness and uni- 
versal doom. For your Lord will then come, to vindicate 
the justice of those proceedings which have been in many 
instances so much obscured, and because they have been ob- 
scured, have been also blasphemed. He will come to dis- 
play his magnificence, descending from heaven " with a shout, 
with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God," 
(1 Thess. iv. 16.) taking his seat upon a throne infinitely 
exceeding that of earthly, or even of celestial princes, clothed 
with " his Father's glory and his own," (Luke, ix. 26.) 
surrounded with a numberless host of "shining attendants, 
when coming to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all 
them that believe." 2 Thess. i. 10. His enemies shall also 
be produced to grace his triumph. The serpent shall be 
seen there rolling in the dust, and trodden under foot by him 
and by all his servants ; those who once condemned him 
shall tremble at his presence ; and those who bowed tha 
knee before him in profane mockery, shall, in wild despair, 
" call to the mountains to fall upon them, and to the rocks 
to hide them from the face of that Lamb of God," (Rev. vi. 
16.) whom they once led away to the most inhuman slaugh- 
ter. 

11. O Christian ! does not your loyal heart bound at th« 
thought? And are you not ready, even while you read these 
lines, to begin the victorious shout in which you are then ta 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 249 

join! He justly expects that your thoughts should be greatly 
elevated and impressed with the views of his triumph ; but 
at the same time he permits you to remember your own per- 
sonal share in the joy and glory of that blessed day ; and 
even now he has the view before him, of what his power and 
love shall then accomplish for your salvation. And what shall 
it not accomplish! He shall come to break the bars of the 
grave, and to re-animate your sleeping clay. Your bodies 
must indeed be laid in dust, and be lodged there as a testi- 
mony of God's displeasure against sin, against the first sin 
that ever was committed, from the sad consequences of which 
the dearest of his children cannot be exempted. But you 
shall then have an ear to hear the voice of the Son of God, 
and an eye to behold the lustre of his appearance ; and shall 
" shine forth like the sun" arising in the clear heaven, 
" which is a bridegroom coming out of his chamber." Psalm 
xix. 5. Your soul shall be new dressed to grace this high 
solemnity, and be clothed, not with rags of mortality, but 
with the robes of glory ; for he "shall change this vile body, 
to fashion it like his own glorious body." Phil. iii. 21. 
And when you are thus royally arrayed, he shall confer pub- 
lic honors on you, and on all his people, before the assembled 
world. You may now perhaps be loaded with infamy, called 
by reproachful names, and charged with crimes, or with 
views which your very soul abhors ; but he will " then bring 
forth your righteousness as the light," (Psalm xxxvii. 6.) 
s * and your salvation as a lamp that burnetii." Isa. lxii. 1. 
Though you have been dishonored by men, you shall be ac- 
knowledged by God; and though treated " as the filth of the 
world, and the off-scouring of all things," (1 Cor. iv. 13.) 
he will show that he regards you " as his treasure, in the 
day that he makes up his jewels." Mai. iii. 17. When he 
shall " put away all the wicked of the earth like dross," 
(Psalm cxix. 119.) you shall be pronounced righteous in that 
full assembly ; and though indeed you have broken the divine 
law, and might in strict justice have been condemned, yet, 
being clothed with the righteousness of the great Redeemer, 
even " that righteousness which is of the great God by faith," 
(Phil. iii. 9.) justice itself shall acquit you, and join with 
mercy in " bestowing upon you a crown of life." 2 Tim. iv. 
8. Christ will " confess you bofore men and angels," (Luke, 
xii. 8.) will pronounce you good and faithful servants, and 
call you to " enter into the joy of your Lord:" (Matt. xxv. 
21.) he will speak of you with endearment as his brethren, 

22 



250 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

and will acknowledge the kindnesses which have been shown 
to you, as if he had " received them in his own person." 
Matt. xxv. 40. Yea, then shall you, O Christians ! who 
may perhaps have sat in some of the lowest places in our 
assemblies, to whom, it may be, none of the rich and great 
of the earth would condescend to speak ; then shall you be 
called to be assessors with Christ on his judgment-seat, and 
to join with him in the sentence he shall pass on wicked 
men and rebellious angels. 

12. Nor is it merely one day of glory and triumph. But 
when the Judge arises, and ascends to his Father's court, all 
the blessed shall ascend with him, and you among the rest : 
you shall ascend together with your Savior, " to his Father 
and your Father, to his God and your God." John xx. 17. 
You shall go to make your appearance in the new Jerusalem, 
in those new shining forms that you have received, which 
will no doubt be attended with a correspondent improvement 
of mind ; and take up your perpetual abode in that fulness 
of joy, with which you shall be filled and satisfied " in the 
presence of God," (Psalm xvi. 11.) upon the consummation 
of that happiness, which the saints, in the intermediate state, 
have been wishing and waiting for. You shall go from the 
ruins of a dissolving world, to " the new heavens and new 
earth, wherein righteousness forever dwells." 2 Pet. iii. 13. 
There all the number of God's elect shall be accomplished, 
and the happiness of each shall be completed. The whole 
society shall be " presented before God, as the bride, the 
Lamb's wife," (Rev. xxi. 9.) whom the eye of its celestial 
bridegroom shall survey with unutterable delight, and con- 
fess to be " without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing," 
(Eph. v. 27.) its character and state being just what he orig- 
inally designed it to be, when he first engaged to " give him- 
self for it, to redeem it by his blood." Rev. v. 9. "So 
shall you ever be" with each other, and cc with the Lord," 
(1 Thess. iv. 17.) and immortal ages shall roll away, and 
find you still unchanged : your happiness always the same, 
and your relish for it the same; or rather ever growing, as 
your souls are approaching nearer and nearer to him, who is 
the source of happiness, and the centre of infinite perfection. 

13. And now look round about the earth, and single out, 
if you can, the enjoyments or the hopes, for the sake of which 
you would say, Lord, delay thy coming; or for the sake of 
which you any more should hesitate to express your longing 
for it and to cry, " Even so come, Lord Jesus, come quickly ! 



RELIGION IIS" THE SOUL. 251 

The Meditation or Prayer of a Christian whose Heart 
is warmed with these Prospects. 

" O blessed Lord, my soul is enkindled with these views, 
and rises to thee in a flame. Judg. xiii. 20. Thou hast tes- 
tified, thou comest quickly ; and I repeat my joyful assent, 
' Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus.' Rev. xxii. 20. Come, 
for I long to have done with this low life ; to have done with 
its burdens, its sorrows and its snares ! Come, for I long to 
ascend into thy presence, and to see the court thou art hold- 
ing above. 

" Blessed Jesus, death is transformed, when I view it in 
this light. The king of terrors is seen no more as such, so 
near the King of Glory and Grace. I hear with pleasure 
the 'sound of thy feet approaching still nearer and nearer. 
Draw aside the veil whenever thou pleasest. Open the bars 
of my prison, that my eager soulmay spring forth 'to thee, 
and cast itself at thy feet:' at the feet of that Jesus, 'whom, 
having not seen, I love,' and f in whom, though now I see thee 
not, yet believing, I rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of 
glory.' 1 Pet. i. 8. Thou, Lord, ' shalt show me the path 
of life ; ' thine hand shall guide me to thy blissful abode, where 
' there is fulness of joy, and rivers of everlasting pleasure.' 
Psalm xvi. 11. Thou shalt assign me a habitation with thy 
faithful servants, whose separate spirits are now living with 
thee, while their bodies sleep in the dust. Many of them 
have been my companions in thy laborious work, and in the 
'patience and tribulation cf thy kingdom,' (Rev. i. 9.) my 
dear companions, and my brethren. O show me, blessed Sav- 
ior, how glorious and how happy thou hast made them. Show 
me to what new forms of better life thou hast conducted 
them whom we call the dead ! In what nobler and more ex- 
tensive services thou hast employed them ! That I may praise 
thee better than I now can, for .thy goodness to them. And 
O, give me to share with them in their blessings and their 
services, and to raise a song of grateful love, like that which 
they are breathing forth before thee ! 

" Yet, O my blessed Redeemer ! even there will my soul 
be aspiring to yet a nobler and more glorious hope ; and from 
this as yet unknown splendor and felicity, shall I be draw- 
ing new arguments to look and long for the day of thy final 
appearance. There shall I long more ardently than I now 
do, to see thy conduct vindicated, and thy triumph display- 
ed ; to see the dust of thy servants re-animated, and ' death, 



252 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

the last of their enemies and of thine, swallowed up in vic- 
tory.' 1 Cor. xv. 26, 54. I shall long for that superior 
honor that thou intendest me, and that complete bliss to which 
the whole body of thy people shall be conducted. Come, 
Lord Jesus, come quickly, will mingle itself with the songs 
of paradise, and sound from the tongues of all the millions 
of thy saints, whom thy grace hath transplanted thither. 

" In the mean time, O my divine Master, accept the hom- 
age which a grateful heart now pays thee, in a sense of the 
glorious hopes with which thou hast inspired it ! It is thou 
that hast put this joy into it, and hast raised my soul to this 
glorious ambition : whereas I might otherwise have now 
been grovelling in the lowest trifles of time and sense, and 
been looking with horror on that hour which is now the ob- 
ject of my most ardent wishes. 

" O be with me always, even to the end of this mortal life. 
And give me, while waiting for thy salvation, to be doing 
thy commandments. May i my loins be girded about, and 
my lamp burning,' (Luke, xii. 35.) and my ears be still 
watchful for the blessed signal of thine arrival ; that my 
glowing soul may with pleasure spring to meet thee, and be 
strengthened by death to bear those visions of glory, under 
the ecstacies of which feeble mortality would now expire !" 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE CHRISTIAN HONORING GOD BY HIS DYING 
BEHAVIOR. 

1. Reflections on the sincerity with which the preceding coun- 
sel has been given. — 2, 3. The author is desirous that (if Prov- 
idence permit) he may assist the Christian to die honorably 
and comfortably. — 4. With this view, it is advised — to rid 
the mind of all earthly cares. — 5. To renew the humiliation 
- of the soul before God, and its application to the blood of Christ. 
— 6. To exercise patience under bodily pains and sorrows. 
— 7. At leaving the world, to bear an honorable testimony to 
religion. — 8. To give a solemn charge to surviving friends, — 
9. especially recommending faith in Christ. — 10, 11. To keep 
the promises of God in view. — 12. And to commit the depart- 
ing spirit to God, in the genuine exercises of gratitude and 
repentance, faith and charity, which are exemplified in the 
concluding meditation and prayer. 

1. Thus, my dear reader, I have endeavored to lead you 
through a variety of circumstances, and those not fancied or 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL, 253 

imaginary, but such as do indeed occur in the human and 
Christian life. And I can truly and cheerfully say, that I 
have marked out to you the path which I myself have trod, 
and in which it is my desire stiH to go on. I have ventured 
my own everlasting interest on that foundation on which I 
have directed you to adventure yours. What I have recom- 
mended as the grand business of your life, I desire to make 
the business of my own ; and the most considerable enjoy- 
ments which I expect or desire in the remaining days of my 
pilgrimage on earth, are such as I have directed you to seek, 
and endeavored to assist you in attaining. Such love to God, 
such constant activity in his service, such pleasurable views 
of what lies beyond the grave, appear to me (God is my wit- 
ness) a felicity incomparably beyond any thing else which 
can offer itself to our affection and pursuit ; and I would not 
for ten thousand worlds resign my share in them, or consent 
even to the suspension of the delights which they afford, dur- 
ing the remainder of my abode here. 

2. I would humbly hope, through the divine blessing, that 
the hours you have spent in the review of these plain things, 
may have turned to some profitable account ; and that, in 
consequence of what you have read, you have been either 
brought into the way of life and peace, or been induced to 
quicken your pace in it. Most heartily should I rejoice in 
being further useful to you, and that even to the last. Now 
there is one scene remaining, a scene through which you must 
infallibly pass, which has something in it so awful, that I 
cannot but attempt doing a little to assist you in it : I mean 
the dark Valley of the Shadow of Death. I could earnest- 
ly wish, that, for the credit of your profession, the comfort 
of your own soul, and the joy and edification of your surviv- 
ing friends, you might die, not only safely, but honorably 
too; and therefore I would offer you some parting advice. 
I am sensible, indeed, that Providence may determine the 
circumstances of your death in such a manner, as that you 
may have no opportunity of acting upon the hints I now 
give you. Some unexpected accident from without or from 
within, may, as it were, whirl you to heaven before you are 
aware ; and you may find yourself so suddenly there, that it 
may seem a translation rather than a death. Or it is pos- 
sible the force of a distemper may affect your understanding 
in such a manner, that you may be quite insensible of the 
circumstances in which you are; and so your dissolusion 
(though others may see it visibly and certainly approaching) 



254 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

may be as great a surprise to you, as if you had died in full 
health. 

3. But as it is, on the whole, probable you may have a 
more sensible passage out of time into eternity, and as much 
may, in various respects^ depend on your dying behavior, 
give me leave to propose some plain directions with relation 
to it, to be practiced, if God give you opportunity, and re- 
mind you of them. It may not be improper to look over the 
xxixth chapter again, when you find the symptoms of any 
threatning disorder. And I the rather hope that v/hat I say 
may be useful to you, as methinks I find myself disposed to 
address you with something of that peculiar tenderness which 
we feel for a dying friend ; to whom, as we expect that we 
shall speak to him no more, we send out, as it were, all our 
hearts in every word. 

4. I would advise, then, in the first place, " that, as soon 
as possible, you would endeavor to get rid of all further care 
with regard to your temporal concerns, by settling them in 
time, in as reasonable and Christian a manner as you can." 
I could wish there may be nothing of that kind to hurry your 
mind when you are least able to bear it, or to distress or di- 
vide those who come near you. Do that which in the pres- 
ence of God you judge most equitable, and which you verily 
believe will be most pleasing to him. Do it in as prudent 
and effectual a manner as you can; and then consider the 
world as a place you have quite done with, and its affairs as 
nothing further to you, more than to one actually dead, un- 
lesss as you may do any good to its inhabitants while yet you 
continue among them, and may, by any circumstance in your 
last actions or words in life, leave a blessing behind you to 
those who have been your friends and fellow travellers, while 
you have been dispatching that journey through it which you 
are now finishing. 

5. That you may be the more at leisure, and the better 
prepared for this, " enter into some serious review of your 
own state, and endeavor to put your soul into as fit a posture 
as possible for your solemn appearance before God." For 
a solemn thing indeed it is, to go into his immediate presence ; 
to stand before him, not as a supplicant at the throne of his 
grace, but at his bar as a separate spirit, whose time of pro- 
bation is over, and whose eternal state is to be immediately 
determined. Renew your humiliation before God, for the 
imperfections of your life, though it has, in the main been 
devoted to his service, Renew your application to the mer- 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 255 

cies of God as promised in the covenant of grace, and to the 
blood of Christ as the blessed channel in which they flow. 
Resign yourself entirely to the divine disposal and conduct, 
as willing to serve God, either in this world or the other, as 
he shall see fit. And sensible of your sinfulness on the one 
hand, and of the divine wisdom and goodness on the other, 
summon up all the fortitude of your soul to bear, as well as 
you can, whatever his afflicting hand may further lay upon 
you, and to receive the last stroke of it, as one who would 
maintain the most entire subjection to the great and good 
Father of spirits. 

6. Whatever you suffer, endeavor to show " yourself an 
example of patience." Let that amiable grace " have its 
perfect work;" (James, i. 4.) and since it has so little more 
to do, let it close the scene nobly. Let there not be a mur- 
muring word ; and that there may not, watch against every 
repining thought. And when you feel any thing of that kind 
arising, look by faith upon a dying Savior, and ask your own 
heart, " Was not his cross much more painful than the bed 
on];which I lie"? Was not his situation, among bloodthirsty 
enemies, infinitely more terrible than mine amidst the tender- 
ness and care of so many affectionate friends 1 Did not 
the heavy load of my sins press him in a much more over- 
whelming manner, than I am pressed by the load of these 
afflictions 1 And yet he bore all, ' as a lamb that is brought 
to the slaughter.' " Isa. liii. 7. Let the remembrance of his 
sufferings be a means to sweeten yours; yea, let it cause you 
to rejoice, when you are called to bear the cross for a little 
while, before you wear the crown. Count it all joy, that you 
have an opportunity yet once more of honoring God by your 
patience, which is now acting its last part, and will, in a 
few days, and perhaps in a few hours, be superseded by com- 
plete, everlasting blessedness. And I am willing to hope, 
that in these views you will not only suppress all passionate 
complaints, but that your mouth will be filled with the praises 
of God ; and that you will be speaking to those who are 
about you, not only of his justice, but of his goodness too. 
So that you will be enabled to communicate your inward joys 
in such a manner, as may be a lively and edifying comment 
upon those words of the Apostle, " Tribulation worketh pa- 
tience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; 
even a hope which maketh not ashamed, while the love of 
God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which 
is given unto us." Rom. v. 3 — 5. 



256 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

7. And now, my dear friend, " now is the time, when it is 
especially expected from you, that you bear an honorable 
testimony to religion." Tell those that are about you, as well 
as you can, (for you will never be able fully to express it), 
what comfort and support you have found in it. Tell them how 
it has brightened the darkest circumstances of your life : tell 
them how it now reconciles you to the near views of death. 
Your words will carry with them a peculiar weight at such a 
season : there will be a kind of eloquence even in the infirmi- 
ties with which you are struggling, while you give them utter- 
ance ; and you will be heard with attention, with tenderness, 
with credit. And therefore, when the time of your depart- 
ure is at hand, with unaffected freedom breathe out your joy, 
if you then feel (as I hope you will) a holy joy and delight 
in God. Breathe out, however, your inward peace and se- 
renity of mind, if you be then peaceful and serene: others 
will mark it, and be encouraged to tread the steps which lead 
to so happy an end. Tell them what you feel of the vanity 
of the world, and they may learn to regard it less. Tell 
them what you feel of the substantial supports of the Gospel, 
and they may learn to value it more ; for they cannot but 
know, that they must lie down on a dying bed too, and must 
then need all the relief which the Gospel itself can give them. 

8. And to enforce the conviction the more, " give a sol- 
emn charge to those that are about you, that they spend their 
lives in the service of God, and govern themselves by the prin- 
ciples of real religion." You may remember, that Joshua, 
and David, and other good men did so, when they perceived 
that the days drew near in which they should die. And you 
know not how the admonitions of a dying friend, or (as it 
may be with respect to some) of a dying parent, may impress 
those who may have disregarded what you and others may 
have said to them before. At least, make the trial, and die, 
laboring to glorify God, to save souls, and generously to sow, 
the seeds of goodness and happiness in a world where you 
have no more harvest to reap. Perhaps they may spring up 
in a plentiful crop, when the clods of the valley are covering 
your body : but if not, God will approve it; and the angels 
that wait abound your bed to receive your departing soul, will 
look upon each other with marks of approbation in their 
countenance, and own, that this is to expire like a Christian, 
and to make a glorious improvement of mortality. 

9. And in this last address to your fellow mortals, whoever 
they are that Providence brings near you, " be sure that you 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 257 

tell them how entirely and how cheerfully your hopes and de- 
pendence in this season of the last extremity are fixed, not 
upon your own merits and obedience, but on what the great 
Redeemer has done and has suffered for sinners." Let them 
see, that you die as it were at the foot of the cross : nothing 
will be so comfortable to yourself, nothing so edifying to them. 
Let the name of Jesus, therefore, be in your mouth, while 
you are able to speak, and when you can speak no longer, 
let it be in your heart ; and endeavor that the last act of your 
soul, while it continues in the body, may be an act of humble 
faith in Christ. Come unto God by him: enter into that 
which is within the veil, as with the blood of sprinkling fresh 
upon you. It is an awful thing for such a sinner, (as you, 
my Christian friend, with all the virtues the world may have 
admired, know yourself to be), to stand before that infinite- 
ly pure and holy Being, who has seen all your ways, and all 
your heart, and has a perfect knowledge of every mixture of 
imperfection which has attended the best of your duties: but 
venture in that way, and you will find it both safe and pleasant. 

10. Once more " to give you comfort, in a dying hour, and 
to support your feeble steps while you are travelling through 
this dark and painful way, take the word of God as a staff in 
your hand." Let books, and mortal friends, now do their last 
office for you. Call, if you can, some experienced Christian, 
who has felt the power of the word of God upon his own 
heart, and let him bring the Scripture, and turn you to some 
of those precious promises, which have been the food and 
rejoicing of his own soul. It is with this view, that I may 
carry the good office I am now engaged in as far as possible, 
that I shall here give you a collection of a few such admira- 
ble scriptures, each of them « infinitely more valuable than 
thousands of gold and silver." Psalm cxix. 72. And to con- 
vince you of the degree in which I esteem them, I will take 
the freedom to add, that I desire they may (if God give an 
opportunity) be read over to me, as I lie on my dying-bed, 
with short intervals between them, that I may pause upon 
each, and renew something of that delightful relish, which, 
I bless God, I have often found in them. May your soul and 
mine be then composed to a sacred silence, (whatever be the 
commotion of animal nature), while the voice of God speaks 
to us, in the language which he spake to his servants of old, 
or in which he instructed them how they should speak to him 
in circumstances of the greatest extremity! 

11. Can any more encouragement be wanting, when he 



258 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

says, " Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, fori 
am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, 
yea s I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteous- 
ness. 53 Isa. xli. 10. And "he is not man that he should lie, 
or the son of man that he should repent. Hath he said, and 
shall he not do itl Or hath he spoken, and shall he not 
make it goodl" Numb, xxiii. 19. " The Lord is my light 
and my salvation, whom shall I fearl The Lord is the 
strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraidl" Psal. xxvii. 
1. " This God is our God forever and ever: he will be our 
guide even unto death." Psal. xlviii. 14. Therefore, " though 
I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear 
no evil ; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they com- 
fort me." Psalm xxiii. 4. " I have waited for thy salvation, 
O Lord." Gen. xlix. 18. O continue thy loving -kindness 
unto them that know thee, and thy righteousness to the up- 
right in heart! For with thee is the fountain of life; in thy 
light shall we see light. Psalm xxxvi. 9, 10. " Thou wilt 
show me the path of life > in thy presence is fulness of joy, 
at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 
xvi. 11. "As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteous- 
ness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." 
Psalm xvii. 15. "For I know in whom I have believed, 
and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have com- 
mitted to him until that day." 2 Tim. i. 12. " Therefore 
my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth ; my flesh also shall 
rest in hope." Psalm xvi. 9. " For if we believe that Je- 
sus died, and rose again; those also that sleep in Jesus will 
God bring with him." 1 Thess. iv. 14. " I give unto my 
sheep eternal life," said Jesus, the good Shepherd, " and they 
shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my 
hand." John, x. 28. "This is the will of him that sent me, 
that every one that believeth on me should have everlasting 
life; and I will raise him up at the last day." John, vi. 40. 
" Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe 
also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if 
it were not so, I would have told you : I go to prepare a place 
for you; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come 
again, and receive you to myself, that where I am, there ye 
may be also." John, xiv. 1 — 3. " Go, tell my brethren, I 
ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and 
your God." John, xx. 17. " Father, I will that they whom 
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may 
behold my glory which thou hast given me; that the love 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 259 

wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in 
them." John, xvii. 24, 26. " He that testifieth these things 
saith, Surely, I come quickly, Amen: even so come, Lord 
Jesus." Rev. xxii. 20. " O death, where is thy sting! O 
grave, where is thy victory! Thanks be to God, who giveth 
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ !" 1 Cor. xv. 
55, 57. 

12. Thus may that God, who " knows the souls of his 
children in all their adversities," (Psalm xxxi. 7.) and in 
"whose sight the death of his saints is precious," (Psalm 
cxvi. 15.) cheer and support you and me in those last extrem- 
ities of nature ! May he add us to the happy number of those 
who have been more than conquerors in death! And may he 
give us those supplies of his Spirit, which may enable us to 
pour out our departing souls in such sentiments as those I 
would now suggest, though we should be no longer able to 
utter words, or to understand them if they were read to us. 
Let us, at least, review them with all proper affections now, 
and lay up one prayer more for that awful moment. O that 
this, and all we have ever offered with regard to it, may then 
" come to remembrance before God!" Acts, x. 4, 31. 

A Meditation, or Prayer, suited to the case of a 
Dying Christian. 

" O thou supreme Ruler of the visible and invisible worlds! 
thou Sovereign of life and of death, of earth and of heaven, 
blessed be thy name, I have often been taught to seek thee. 
And now once more do I pour out my soul, my departing soul, 
unto thee. i Bow down thy gracious ear, O God ! and let 
my cry come before thee with acceptance.' 

" The hour is come, when thou wilt separate me from this 
world, with which I have been so long and so familiarly ac- 
quainted, and lead me to another, as yet unknown. Enable 
me, I beseech thee, to make the exchange as becomes a child 
of Abraham, who being i called of thee to receive an inheri- 
tance, obeyed and went out,' though he knew not particularly 
whither he went: (Heb. xi. 8.) as becomes a child of God, 
who knows that, through sovereign grace, ' it is his Father's 
good pleasure to give him the kingdom,' Luke, xii. 32. 

<< I acknowledge, O Lord! the justice of that sentence by 
which I am expiring! and own thy wasdam and goodness in 
appointing my journey through this gloomy vale which is now 
before me. Help me to turn it into the happy occasion of 
honoring thee, and adorning my profession! and I will bless 



260 RISE APTO PROGRESS OF 

the pangs by which thou art glorified, and this mortal and 
sinful part of my nature is dissolved. 

"Gracious Father! I would not quit this earth of thine, 
and this house of clay, in which I have sojourned during my 
abode upon the face of it, without my grateful acknowledg- 
ments to thee for all that abundant goodness which thou hast 
caused to pass before me here : (Exod. xxxiii. 19.) with my 
dying breath I bear witness to thy faithful care : I have ( want- 
ed no good thing.' Psalm xxxiv. 10. I thank thee, O my 
God! that this guilty, forfeited, unprofitable life, was so long 
spared ; that it hath still been maintained by such a rich va- 
riety of thy bounty. I thank thee that thou hast made this 
beginning of my existence so pleasant to me. I thank thee 
for the mercies of my days and nights, of my months and 
years, which are now come to their period : I thank thee for 
the mercies of my infancy, and for those of my riper age ; 
for all the agreeable friends which thou hast given me in this 
house of my pilgrimage, ' the living and the dead,; 5 for all 
the help I have received from others, and for all opportuni- 
ties which thou hast given me of being helpful to the bodies 
and souls of my brethren of mankind. * Surely goodness 
and mercy have followed me all the days of my life,' (Psal. 
xxiii. 6.) and I have reason to rise a thankful guest from the 
various and pleasing entertainments with which my table has 
been furnished by thee. Nor shall I have reason to repine, 
or to grieve at quitting them; for, O my God! are thy boun- 
ties exhaustedl I know that they are not. I will not wrong 
thy goodness and thy faithfulness so much as to imagine, that, 
because I am going from this earth, I am going from happi- 
ness. I adore thy mercy, that thou hast taught me to enter- 
tain nobler views through Jesus thy Son. I bless thee with 
all the powers of my nature, that I ever heard his name, and 
heard of his death; and would fain exert a more vigorous act 
of thankful adoration, than in this broken state I am capable 
of, while I am extolling thee for the riches of thy grace man- 
ifested in him, for his instructions and his example, for his 
blood and his righteousness, and for that blessed Spirit of thine 
which thou hast given me, to turn my sinful heart unto thy- 
self, and to bring me e into the bonds of thy covenant, 'of that 
covenant which ( is ordered in all things and sure,' (2 Sam. 
xxiii. 5.) and which this death, though now separating my 
soul from my body, shall never be able to dissolve. 

" I bless thee, O Lord! that I am not dying in an unre- 
generate and impenitent state; but that thou didst graciously 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 261 

awaken and convince me, that thou didst renew and sanctify 
my heart, and didst by thy good Spirit, work in it an un- 
feigned faith, a real repentance, and the beginning of a di- 
vine life. I thank thee for faithful ministers and for gospel 
ordinances: I thank thee for my Sabbaths and seasons of 
communion at the table of my Lord ; and for the weekly and 
monthly refreshments which they gave me: I thank thee for 
the fruits of Canaan which were sent me in the wilderness, 
and are now sent me on the brink of Jordan. I thank thee 
for thy blessed word, and for those exceeding rich and pre- 
cious promises of it, which now lie, as a cordial, warm at 
my heart in this chilling hour : promises of support in death, 
and of glory beyond it, and of the resurrection of my body to 
everlasting life. O my God ! I firmly believe them all, great 
and wonderful as they are, and am waiting for the accomplish- 
ment of them through Jesus Christ ; £ in whom they are all 
Yea and Amen.' 2 Cor. i. 20. f Remember thy word unto 
thy servant, on which thou hast caused me to hope.' Psalm 
cxix. 49. I covenanted with thee, not only for worldly en- 
joyments, which thy love taught me comparatively to despise ; 
but for eternal life, as e the gift of thy free grace through Je- 
sus Christ my Lord:' (Rom. vi. 28.) and now permit me, in 
his name, to enter my humble claim to it. Permit me to 
to consign c this departing spirit to thine hand; for thou hast 
redeemed it, O Lord God of truth!' Psalm xxxi. 5. s lam 
thine: save me,' and make me happy! Psalm cxix. 94. 

" But may I indeed presume to say I am thine! O God! 
now I am standing on the borders of both worlds, now I view 
things as in the light of thy presence and of eternity, how 
unworthy do I appear, that I should be taken to dwell with 
thy angels and saints in glory! Alas! I have reason to look 
back with deep humiliation on a poor, unprofitable, sinful 
life, in which I have daily been deserving to be cast into hell. 
But I have this one comfortable reflection, that I have fled to 
the cross of Christ ; and I now renew my application to it. 
To think of appearing before God in such an imperfect right- 
eousness as my own, were ten thousand times worse than 
death. No, Lord, I come unto thee as a sinner; but as a 
sinner who has believed in thy Son for pardon and life : I 
fall down before thee as a guilty, polluted wretch ; but thou 
hast made him to be unto thy people for 'wisdom and right- 
eousness, for sanctification and redemption,' 1 Cor. i. 30. 
Let me have my lot among the followers of Jesus! Treat 
me, as thou treatest those who are his friends and his breth- 



262 RISE AND PROGRESS OF 

ren ! For thou knowest my soul has loved him, and trusted 
in him, and solemnly ventured itself on the security of his 
Gospel. And 1 1 know in whom I have believed.' 2 Tim. i. 
12. The infernal lion may attempt to dismay me in the aw- 
ful passage; but I rejoice, that I am ' in the hands of the 
good Shepherd,' (John, x. 11, 28.) and I defy all my spir- 
itual enemies, in a cheerful dependence on his faithful care. 
I lift up my eyes and my heart to him, w 7 ho c was dead and 
is alive again ; and behold, he liveth forevermore, and hath 
the keys of death and of the unseen w r orld.' Rev. i. 18. 
Blessed Jesus, I die by thine hand, and I fear no harm from 
the hand of a Savior! I fear not that death, which is allot- 
ed to me by the hand of my dearest Lord, who himself died 
to make it safe and happy. I come, Lord, I come, not only 
with a willing, but with a joyful consent. I thank thee that 
thou rememberest me for good ; that thou art breaking my 
chains, and calling me to ' the glorious liberty of the chil- 
dren of God.' Rom. viii. 21. I thank thee, that thou wilt 
no longer permit me to live at a distance from thine arms ; 
but, after this long absence, wilt have me at home, at home 
forever. 

" My feeble nature faints in the view of that glory which 
is now dawning upon me ; but thou knowest, gracious Lord, 
how to let it in upon my soul by just degrees, and to ' make thy 
strength perfect in my weakness.' 2 Cor. vii. 9. Once more, 
for the last time, would I look down on this poor world which 
I am going to quit, and breathe out my dying prayer for its 
prosperity, and that of thy church in it. I have loved it, O 
Lord! as a living member of the body ; and I love it to the 
last. I humbly beseech thee, therefore, that thou wilt guard 
it, and purify it, and unite it more and more. Send down 
more of thy blessed Spirit upon it, even the Spirit of wisdom, 
of holiness, and of love; till in due time ' the wilderness be 
turned into the garden of the Lord,' (Isa. li. 3.) and ' all 
flesh shall see thy salvation!' Luke, iii. 6. 

" As for me, bear me, O my heavenly Father! on the wings 
of everlasting love, to that peaceful, that holy, that joyous 
abode, which thy mercy has prepared for me, and which the 
blood of my Redeemer has purchased! Bear me ■ to the 
general assembly and church of the first-born, to the innu- 
merable company of angels, and to the spirits of just men 
made perfect.' Heb. xii. 22, 23. And whatever this flesh 
may suffer, let my steady soul be delightfully fixed on that 
glory to which it is rising! Let faith perform its last office 



RELIGION IN THE SOUL. 263 

in an honorable manner! Let my few remaining moments 
on earth be spent for thy glory, and so let me ascend, with 
love in my heart, and praise on my faltering tongue, to the 
world where love and praise shall be complete! Be this my 
last song on earth, which I am going to tune in heaven : 
1 Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that 
sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever. 5 
Amen!" 



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